Recap!
Characters-
Syaoran: Guardian of Fire and Seeker (formerly known as Pyro in his other life as a God of Fire), has totally got it bad for Sakura.
Eriol: Guardian of Sky (Once called Ciel), seems to like Tomoyo. Is the future father of Gabriel.
Tomoyo: Guardian of Water (AKA Lady Cordelia in her former life). Is the future mother of Eriol's children: Gabriel and Mina (Sakura).
Sakura: Guardian of Earth (Whose name was always Sakura) Just transferred to Tomoeda. She collects the Clow Cards and is also the Guardian of Earth. Has been medically certified as blind but her overwhelmingly keen senses allow her to see the auras and shadows of those around her in accordance to magic and mood and shape. Only she has the power to unleash the entity that will save the world, Salvation.
Hiiragizawa Gabriel: Eriol's future son. Looks just like his father. Came to Tomoeda to save Sakura and stop her from dying like she has over and over in her past lives. His future mother is Daidouji Tomoyo.
Ryou: A henchman of Chaos. Sicced four evil creatures on the Guardians in Ch11. Definitely evil. Is a young man whose sad past motivates him to destroy a corrupt world. He kidnapped Sakura and fought with her on Yanagihara Hill before he ended up throwing her off.
Kotoko: Another henchman of Chaos. She killed Gabriel instead of Sakura in the last chapter. Has the power of earth and water.
The TriArch: A secret organization of three people with very special abilities chosen by the Prophet to protect the Guardians and fight against any cohorts of Chaos during the Battle of the End (the prophesized day of Chaos' attack). Takana Emma, Skye (or Sukayo) and Meredith are the members of this organization. Both Emma and Ryou are classmates of the Guardians, while Meredith, a stoic 12-year old, has the ability to dream cast and is also telekinetic. Skye is well-known for his power with metal, which he brings fire to as well as for the tattoos on his arms, which increase pain. All the members of the TriArch seem to be a small, but closely knit gothic family. Emma was struck down as she came up Yanagihara Hill earlier on and has not been seen since.
Babysitter/ Chips: Messenger sent by the Prophet that is really annoying and seemed useless until he helped rescue Tomoyo. He actually has a serious, deadly side to him. Has not been seen or heard from for some time.
the Prophet: The Chief Messenger of God, in charge of guiding the Guardians and all other affairs pertaining to Chaos' attempt on the world. He/She usually sits in the dark on an eerie looking throne. He appears to look like a 10-year old boy with feathery white hair, glasses and almond shaped eyes that change color every few seconds wearing a large white cloak covered with holy sigils.
the Spirits/Sprites: Four mischievous beings, each made of their own element, that only those with magic can see. Fire: Pyro. Sky: Skye, Water: Aquia, Earth: Gaia.
The Story Thus Far:
Syaoran definitely had just work cut out for him when the divine being known as the Prophet ordered him to find the 4 Guardians who were destined to save the world from the power of Chaos. But even after finding the Guardians and even Hiiragizawa Eriol's son from the future, Gabriel, things weren't getting any better. Now Syaoran has come to find that Kinomoto Sakura is the "Bringer of Salvation" as the Guardian of Earth and the only person with the power to unleash Salvation, the one and only tool that can save the world, and finally bring Chaos' rampage to an end. Of course things don't go so smoothly and Syaoran's nightmares about Sakura seem to be coming true. Worried for her safety he, the other guardians, and the TriArch rush to protect her. It is there at Yanagihara Hill where Ryou manages to throw Sakura off the mountain and kill her. In a rage, Syaoran (and eventually Skye) attack Ryou until Ryou calls a swarm of winged black demons and flees the scene. Meanwhile, Eriol and Tomoyo become locked in their own battle against Kotoko. Just when things begin to sour, Gabriel and Sakura (who is not dead after all) come to the rescue. Sadly it is also this battle that costs Gabriel his life.
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Reminder: The battle IS messy so perspectives in this chapter are going to be EVERYWHERE! There are so many different perspectives I had to jump from to tell the story that I eventually gave up separating them. Just think in the movies how everyone is yelling back and forth to their comrades on the battlefield as they fight against the enemy.
Well, onto the story! Read on people read on! And please review!
--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 18...Summoning Salvation
Skye gasped for air and allowed the metal staff he'd been wielding for the past hour and a half against his opponent to support his weight. He winced when he heard its claws dig into the ground and eased off it, his chest heaving.
"Goddamnit I'm tired," Skye croaked.
"Are you…are you finished then?" Ryou snapped from where he was barely holding himself up. His robes were singed and sweaty.
Skye wiped off the blood that had been trickling down his cheek with the back of his hand.
"You shittin' me? I'm just getting warmed up!"
In reply, Ryou straightened up, "Good. Because I'm going to kill you and this world full of sick bastards!"
Skye laughed harshly and switched the thin metal pole to his other hand. Fire sparked to life along its silver length. His electric blue eyes flashed.
"Bring it," he whispered.
He threw himself forward at the cohort and twisted his body around lithely. Ryou roared and thrust his palms out to meet Skye's attack. Lightning exploded from his hands and sent Skye flipping backwards a few feet before he managed to regain his balance and come back for more.
To Ryou's annoyance the boy used that stupid speed technique that was similar to teleportation and knocked him from behind. When he turned around the goth youth was already bearing down on him with the thin metal staff, his teeth grit.
"Why the HELL can't you get it through your thick skull?" Skye snarled. "What happened was in the past. Let. It. GO!" As if on cue, the end of the pole ignited once more and sent currents of blue fire pulsing down its length. Ryou let go quickly and resorted to landing a punch. Skye blocked the blow and they broke apart. The two circled each other warily.
"Shut up! You know NOTHING of suffering! She was my sister and I lost her! They had no RIGHT!"
They had no right at all. It wasn't fair. It wasn't, Ryou thought fiercely. Bitterness ran cold through his veins like ice when he remembered how he'd lost her forever. He'd been helpless to help her, having been locked in his room when it happened. He was a boy at the time and had been locked away in his room by his mother as a time out. He had seen the three men saunter onto the front lawn and snatch her away while she was playing on the swings and laughing at him. He'd remembered the feeling of hopelessness.
The black hatred of the world that had blossomed in his heart had, after weeks of crying and hurting, had completely taken over him. It had helped him to leave his home and seek out a means of taking his revenge on the world.
Chaos had taken him in with open arms, promising to destroy a world that fed on innocent children every day. Only when he had what he wanted would Ryou be satisfied.
"And you think YOU have a right?" Skye scoffed and looked at him with mock incredibility. "You're so full of shit your eyes are turning brown, Sparky! Whatdya think's gonna happen to all the other little girls and boys in the world? You realize you're not just killing the idiots but the innocents too? You're a freakin MURDERER."
Ryou shook his head. Someone like him could never understand the pain he went through, "The world will be reborn again as good as new!" he replied calmly.
"As good as-AS GOOD AS NEW! You gotta be kidding me!" Skye roared and thrust his staff into the ground, setting off a new wave of tremors. "There will ALWAYS be GOOD and BAD, Ryou! It's the natural balance in the world that makes EXISTANCE POSSIBLE! You're a fool for thinking that by killing the world off again the world will suddenly become PURE!"
"You don't know CRAP about what you're talking about!" Ryou snapped. "Shut up!"
The two of them lunged for each other and struck at the same time. Lightning and fire collided and flooded the room with brilliant blue light. Their bodies where locked together in a struggle to overpower each other
"You think I'M talking crap?" Skye grunted. "What is happiness without sorrow, dipshit? Or life without death? What is pleasure without pain? And good without evil?" his power was slowly increasing with each word. Ryou grit his teeth and dug his heels into the ground. "What the hell's the point in there being something GOOD if there isn't something BAD first!"
Ryou's heart thudded in his chest and his eyes widened in realization right before Skye's power flared brightly and overpowered his own.
Bright blue light exploded in that cave. When it faded there were no more sounds of struggle.
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As soon as Sakura, Eriol and Tomoyo reached the top of the hill Syaoran fell on Sakura immediately like a rhino closing in on the kill.
He roughly yanked her into his arms and crushed her body to him, "Holy SHIT you scared me! You scared the CRAP out of me, Sakura!" he croaked.
It was a pretty bold move on his part but he would risk getting slapped or snapped at after going through a whole episode in which she was dead to him forever. That scare had made him realize how much she meant to him. Besides, who knew when this chance would come around again? The world could end at any moment soon with the End coming and all. Life was not forever, he acknowledged dryly. If he ever made it out of this alive he would definitely take more chances!
And he would tell her that he loved her, he added nervously.
She didn't slap him though. Instead she wound her arms around him, "Gomenasai. It won't happen again," he could have sworn he heard as smile as she said that.
It was all good.
Except for what had just went down with Gabriel. His shoulders slumped.
"Ahem."
That girl behind him with the black hair was creeping him out.
"I am glad to see you've all reunited but we do have work to do. NOW. The time for hugs and kisses will come later AFTER you've summoned Salvation," Meredith reminded them. Then she stopped and looked at Eriol and Tomoyo with a look of deep empathy. "I am sorry for your great loss. I didn't know him for long but he was a very brave and determined young man. You should be proud."
Eriol nodded solemnly.
"Thank you," Tomoyo whispered before she rushed off in the direction of the four sprites.
Syaoran was strongly tempted to snap back at Meredith but his instincts told him that she wouldn't tolerate that and he would definitely regret it later. He took a deep breath, let go of Sakura and told himself that they had work to do. And shame on them for getting sidetracked.
He set to work and, as Meredith had instructed, motioned the other Guardians into the circle carved into the ground. The same circle that he had carved over and over in his former lives. The four tiny sprites were already poised in on that line in four directions. Skye was poised on the North end, Pyro smoldered in the South across from it, Gaia floated on the West end, and Aqua floundered about silently in the East part of the circle. It seemed that despite their miniscule size, they had a role to play in the coming of Salvation as well.
Eriol, Tomoyo, and Sakura made their way into the circle. They followed the former Chooser (that's Syaoran) to the center of the circle and positioned themselves as he told them to. When they were ready, Sakura stood in the center of the circle before the hole in the ground, Syaoran stood poised across from her, and Eriol and Tomoyo stood behind her on her left and right sides. They had formed a triangle inside the circle of the 4 sprites.
Sakura raised her wand and thrust the end of her staff into the small hole.
Then the world fell deathly silent.
Syaoran looked around him in bewilderment. The first thing that he noticed was that time had slowed down. Every flying demon flapped lazily in the sky at snail pace. The last thing he realized was that it looked like everything had gone black and white. All the color around them had seeped away leaving the world blank and dark. The only light he could see was emanating from the staff that Sakura gripped with trembling hands. He thought for a second that maybe he was seeing things but when he looked at Eriol and Tomoyo he saw them staring at the sky and each other with the same look of awe upon their faces.
In his mind a memory surfaced, like many before it. A memory that even as the reality around him was filtered of all color.
He was staring down blankly at an opulent pool of water, trailing his fingers lightly over its surface. Floating at the surface were sakura petals. What the hell? He thought and shook his head just moments before the silent world of black white exploded with bursts of sound and speed. Everything seemed to speed up whirling faster and faster. Each shriek and each growl of the flying creatures amplified in volume until Syaoran was groaning and covering his ears to shut the sounds out. God it was loud. Kami, it hurt.They definitely knew what was up and were going to stop it all costs. They didn't want Salvation to be summoned, so naturally their first target was the young woman who stood in center of the circle with the small staff in her hands.
With the intention of moving closer to Sakura to protect her from any and all income attacks that he could, Syaoran moved to step forward.
He couldn't. What the hell? It was as if his body refused to move. Like everything from his head down was paralyzed or something.
Panic hit him over the head like a sledgehammer and yelled to Tomoyo and Eriol, "I CAN'T MOVE!" after seeing the looks of shock on their faces he realized that they were paralyzed in place too. They were all completely vulnerable to attack!
Shit!
"You cannot stop. You will not be able to move until Salvation has been completely summoned," Meredith's voice broke through his panic.
"WHAT! YOU'RE GONNA GET US KILLED! HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KEEP IT COMING IF WE CAN'T DEFEND OURSELVES? THIS IS STUPID!" he roared. She ignored them.
And then it seemed as if any creature that was flying was suddenly swooping down on them by the thousands.
Syaoran yelled, "NO!"
Meredith shouted a long stream of words from a language that was long dead.
It was as if she had activated some sort of spell.
The tiny sprites around him suddenly started to flare with a bright light that became so intense he could barely stand to look at them (which was kind of hard because they were positioned everywhere he looked). The only thing he could make out now was each sprite's silhouette was no longer the size of a small and cute sprite. In fact they were growing in size, getting bigger and bigger until they were the size of the average human adult. Then with a shower of silver and gold sparks that even Syaoran saw in the world of black and white, they were suddenly transformed from cute little bursts of light to warriors.
Skye had grown taller and wore a long, hooded, white coat traced laced with intricate black designs. The hems of the coat were gold. In his (apparently the entity was now masculine) thin white hands gripped tightly to a long gold staff with tiny objects dangling down from it. When Syaoran caught a glance at the inside of Skye's coat he was shocked to see that he had a starry sky complete with moving shootings stars and shifting planets.
Aquia had beome the image of a young person (he couldn't tell if it was man or woman) made of water with webbed hands (A/N: Think the Watery Card).
Gaia was a tall young woman in a long green dress that was made of earth. Precious metals were embedded in the area above her ample bosom and acted as fringe about her shoulders. Her golden hair was swept back above her head and her green eyes stared ahead. They were blank but surprisingly alert and ready for any line of attack that may have been coming her way. (A/N: Earthy)
And then there was Pyro, the sprite that represented Syaoran's own element. Pyro was a lean but muscular young man with fire for hair and a thick red band. His human body went from the fierce yellow and black eyes to the fists that were on fire at his side and ended with the bare and muscular torso. Everything from his hips to where his legs should have been was a column of smoldering fire. Great wings unfurled from his back (A/N: I may have exaggerated things a little, but just imagine the Firey Card).
The four warriors started to move in a perfect circle around the four guardians, shielding them from any and all attacks that attempted to come near them and the Bringer of Salvation, Sakura. Pyro grunted and flung burst after burst of fire into the sky. Winged black creatures started to fall from the sky like dead leaves in autumn. Gaia was contemplating the barren ground before her. Eriol, Tomoyo, and Syaoran watched in a sort of trance when vines shot up from the ground in all directions and spread around the Four Guardian until they had created a fortified birdcage-like barrier. The entity that he once been Skye lifted his gold staff as far as it would go and tapped the top of the cage. A crackling blue and white substance slowly trailed down and blanketed the large gaps of the cage.
Meredith shouted another command in the odd language and Skye acted once more.
He raised up his staff and pointed it towards the sky. In response the sky lit up at its master's call.
Strike…Skye had uttered the same spell that Eriol had used long ago to set the school cafeteria on fire, but this spell seemed to hold an amazing amount of power that in no way compared to Eriol's own.
A burst of light exploded in the sky and swallowed the ground up in its power. All and any black winged creature plunged to the ground, falling dead at their feet like dead birds. Syaoran gaped in awe and fear. Even the tiny spirits that had been bugging him from the beginning served a purpose. To protect the Guardians when they were summoning Salvation. Because obviously, they were vulnerable with the whole feet-stuck-to-the-ground thing. As if sensing this, Skye turned to regard Syaoran with eyes that blazed and literally crackled like the lightning that he had sent upon Chaos' creatures. Then his eyes shifted to something behind Syaoran's back. The Guardian of Fire turned to see what had caught the Spirit's attention.
Sakura had suddenly gone rigid. The staff in her hands was no longer cute and small, he noticed. Instead it was growing longer and darker in her hands. What had once been the tiny gilded wings of a cherub were suddenly becoming the long and graceful wings of an archangel. The small star of the staff in her hands grew bigger to the point that it encompassed the entire staff and revealed a moon and sun. As the staff grew, Syaoran felt something inside him shift.
In his mind's eye, he saw moments when he and Sakura had been together in their former lives.
She was laughing at him and brushing the hair out of his face, which was contorted into a look of great annoyance. Then she leaned in and kissed him swiftly, curling her fingers around his ears as she did so. To pull him in closer. His expression softened. He wrapped his arms around her waist as he leaned down her meet her lips.
Then he saw her gasping for air on the ground from where she lay, tears flowing down her cheeks like the blood that flowed down from her chest. A small silver dagger was embedded in her stomach. He clearly saw her eyes shining with what he saw to be sadness and a lack of hope. It was a glance of his past life in which they were destined to never be together.
Slowly but surely he was remembering everything that had ever happened to him and his fellow Guardians in their past lives. How many times he had fallen for Sakura over and over again. How many times he had taken the role of the Chooser as he had in this life to find the other Guardians. How many times he had cursed the Babysitter, who he knew at that moment, was surely gone because his job (to guide them in finding each other) was far over. How many times he had failed to stop the world from ending.
He remembered it all.
He grit his teeth and watched the staff in Sakura's hands grow longer and longer.
But before anything more could happen, someone started to scream. At first he thought it might be him or his friends. A sharp glance into each of their faces told him that it wasn't.
It took him a while to realize that a figure made of black had emerged from the landing below them. It was horrible. A large winged figure about 8 feet high with horns. It could have been the devil himself if Syoaran had not recognized it from the many memories embedded in his mind.
Chaos.
Chaos roared at the Guardians for every inch that the staff changed. The staff was growing longer and longer until it was taller than Sakura herself. It (he? Syaoran mused) flung out its arms and sent a strong current rushing towards the Guardians and the shield that the Spirits had so grimly erected. Skye grunted and sent back a current of his own that clashed with Chaos' and unfortunately, disintegrated. The power swept the 4 spirits up in its wake and when the smoke had cleared the 4 spirits were suddenly gone.
"Shit!" Syaoran cursed and started to struggle against the force that held him in place.
The thing stepped forward. Meredith slid in its path at the same time.
Chaos barely glanced down at the girl, but for all the power that Syaoran felt to the tips of his toes she certainly wasn't strong enough to overcome the darkest entity of all human existence besides Evil himself. The creature flung her backwards as easily as it would a rag doll and continued its march over to the Guardians.
"MEREDITH!" Eriol cried out.
As he panicked with the increasingly alarming situation they were in, Syaroan's twisted sense of humor kicked in.
Great, he was going to die with his legs stuck in the ground.
"BASTARD! Bastard bastard bastard!" Syaroan spat over and over under his breath while he continued to struggle to free himself. Why on EARTH couldn't he move? Who was the idiot who'd started all this.
He winced. Him. Damn it all.
He yelled out a warning to the others and then shot the thing a blistering glare that clearly said, Stay the hell away. Wouldn't you know it that big black horned creatures were stupid? It didn't take the hint and drew closer still.
Maybe being stuck was a good thing after all; he mused and continued to struggle. That thing was so heavy it's probably cause an earthquake. Falling on one's face was not cool.
As it turned out, though, things would not end this way.
It only took a matter of seconds for the creature to be caught off guard when it was suddenly being attacked. Syaoran froze in mid-struggle when he noticed the newly formed gash in its hip.
Emma Takana twisted the wrist that held a long sword made of hellfire and settled into a defensive stance. Chaos was getting ready to reciprocate her attack and it was pissed.
Syaoran was just happy that Emma wasn't dead as he'd thought she was.
Emma smirked, "Good. I got your attention," she said.
And then she was running.
She was literally an aggressive blur when she moved and covered the ground between Chaos and herself within one second.
No joke.
The girl could run.
She had managed to draw her blade across the thing's body once more before she was suddenly airborne. She was ready to go again even as she hit the ground and twisted around on her heel.
The next moment she ran at Chaos. A large translucent globe of what looked like fire surrounded her body.
Syaoran sensed the source of power and looked to the sidelines where Meredith stood, her eyes riveted to Emma. She was working with Emma.
And suddenly Skye was too. The gothic young man seemed to appear out of nowhere at Emma's side. The tattoes on his arms were no longer black and stationary looking. Impulsively, Syaoran shuddered. The characters and symbols on Skye's arms were now writing freely on his arms like snakes.
When he was no more than 10 feet away from the creature, Skye grunted and flung the two rings in his hand at the creature. At the same time, Emma had launched herself into the air, performed a complete back flip and landed on the back of the creature known as Chaos, effectively sinking her sword into its back in one complete stroke.
Skye had not even caught the two rings in his hands before Chaos seemed to explode with a burst of power. This caught all three TriArch members off Guard and left them scattered on the ground, stunned.
Death…to you all….Death to the world…
The words flowed from the creature's mouth. It rose its head to the sky and lifted its arms and invoked a power much stronger than anything they had seen yet. A power that was directed towards the 4 Guardians standing immobile in their circle.
Syaoran trembled in his shoes. No no. If he remembered correctly, Chaos had the power to summon death. This was Chaos' ultimate attack. An attack that Syaoran had failed to stop many many times in his past lives. He'd already lost count to the number of times that he'd lost someone to this attack. And it was many years ago that he had sent Death upon Tomoyo and Eriol together.
He would never forget the empty stares that he'd seen after they'd been hit.
"STOP!" he shouted and was promptly ignored.
"I'm almost…almost there…" Sakura gasped suddenly, as if to remind him to hold on. He whipped around to see her progress and found that the staff in her hands was completely unrecognizable. "Just a little…longer…"
Syaoran looked from Sakura to Chaos and then to the three unconscious figures on the ground. There was nothing that he could do. He could no more raise his hands as much as he could move his feet. There was no way he could channel his power into a sort of force field if he couldn't move his hands! What the hell?
Chaos roared yet again and dropped its arms. Syaoran opened his mouth and screamed over and over and over again just moments before the blow fell and Death swept out to capture them all in its jaws, to absorb their life.
Bright light flared in Syaoran's sight.
But he wasn't expecting the light to gradually fade. Neither did the other two Guardians, apparently. Eriol and Tomoyo sent him similar looks of confusion and astonishment.
There was a dull thud and then something was falling at their feet before the circle.
Syaoran's head snapped to the side and then his eyes widened in shock.
Ryou wavered on his knees precariously. By some chance of miracle he had absorbed the brunt of the attack and taken Death into his body. Syaoran didn't know how he'd managed to do it. But didn't know why the enemy had done so. And it bugged the hell out of him.
Fool….Chaos growled.
Syaoran agreed. He didn't want to admit that he was grateful for what Ryou had given up to save them. How could he not be, despite a few suspicious thoughts (hey, the guy tried to kill him and his friends a few times, remember). Judging by the quickly fading life in Ryou's eyes he would die within the next minute or so. Before that time came, Syaoran wanted to know the reason for his sacrifice.
"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM? WHY DID YOU DO THAT YOU IDIOT?"
"My…sister," Ryou croaked. He was so sad, Syaoran noticed. Why was he so sad? "I was…I was wrong. Save my sister….save them all."
Syaoran's eyes narrowed. He had no idea what Ryou was talking about. None. Ryou had a sister?
Kotoko, maybe? If that was the case, then Ryou's death was a lost cause.
Nonetheless, Syaoran nodded, "FINE!" He deserved to atleast let the guy die in peace. It was the least that Syaoran could do for the guy who'd saved them, friend or foe aside.
This new agreement put Ryou at ease. He nodded off and then didn't make an effort to stop himself from falling when the light faded from his eyes. Syaoran looked down at body on the ground in a sort of transfixed state.
They were at war and people were dying right before him. First Gabriel. Now Ryou. Both had given their lives to ensure that Salvation would come. One had lived in the light. The other had always been drowned in darkness. Now they were both gone.
Syaoran looked up at Chaos before him and grit his teeth angrily.
Was this the creep that they were destined to continue fighting over and over? Deep hatred and contempt gripped his heart.
Was it even FAIR that they would continue to risk their lives over and over against a thing that would never truly be gone? Was it worth it?
Sakura chose that specific moment, however to declare in a somewhat panicked voice, "I…It's coming!" Syaoran twisted around anxiously and winced at the light that invaded his eyes.
He couldn't really see what the staff looked like anymore. The staff was blazing so brightly that he could no longer see what was in front of him, except just…light. Then barely, just barely, he made out two figures. A tall thin man with long white hair and white wings. And was that a lion….? A tiger?
What was going on? Was this what they had fought for? A lion and a skinny man with white hair? He thought in disbelief.
He changed his mind when, for a brief fleeting moment the man turned to Syaoran and stared into his eyes with cold icy blue ones. A shiver rippled through Syaoran's chest. The lion didn't even bother to look at the Guardian before taking to the air and roaring in such a way that Syaoran found majestic. The man with wings (was he an angel?) was right behind the lion.
As he watched the two entities soaring above Mount Yanaghira and Japan, above the Battle, Syaoran could help but feel that it was comforting to know that they were what Syaoran and his friends had been searching for all along. Comforting, because he felt the great urge to fall to his knees and pay homage. Comforting because when Chaos screamed its fury and outrage, Syaoran knew that they had won the battle of the End and the battle against Chaos too.
He felt a great surge of delirious happiness and smug satisfaction. So this…this was it! The End would never come! Gabriel and Ryou had given up their lives to see to it. Eriol, Sakura, Tomoyo, and the TriArch had fought to accomplish it.
Salvation had been possible…and Salvation had definitely been achieved. How could it not when it lit up the sky the way it did? He couldn't help but feel giddy that at least for now, it was finally over.
It was so comforting that with a sigh and smile, Syaoran closed his eyes and let himself be carried under into unconsciousness. He didn't know what happened to him after that. All he knew was that the weight of the world had fallen from his shoulders. The threat of Chaos had fallen to pieces.
Salvation had come.
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There you have it. This is the last action-packed chapter of the story. All loose ends are now completely tied. The End has been stopped, Salvation has been summoned. So now all you can do now is wait for the last chapter and see what will happen at the end of the story. What happened to the TriArch? What will happen between Sakura and Syaoran? Between Tomoyo and Eriol? Will Ryou's and Gabriel's death continue to bother them forever? What about the sprites? The last chapter was already complete long before chapter 18 was (lol, I couldn't resist) so it won't be long before I post the last chapter (omg I cant believe it! The LAST one!)
Also as a final word for this chapter, I've posted some pictures that I've drawn of some of the characters. I'm not too good at describing what my characters look like to you with words so I drew up the 3 of the Spirits in sprite form, a few pictures of the original Guardians, and Skye in his battle form. Though, I definitely had more pictures I'm currently without a scanner so it would be a while before I posted any more. Wahhh. Please take a look at my writers' blog if you're interested in seeing some of these. It's the link that I've listed as my homepage in my profile. The pictures will be there and a summary of how the story really went before I turned it into a fan fic. How the plot was so different when I first wrote this story in the 7th grade (I just graduated from high school). So be sure to check it out. And if you have a blogger account, feel free to leave a comment:D R+R! Please!