Thank you for your support, Cherry Tiger! This story is projected to have at least 10 chapters, so I'll delete "Not finished" from my summary when I post the next chapter. Again, please review. It helps the author know someone actually cares about their writing.
Disclaimer: CLAMP-sama owns all of the characters in this...
"Hhu..." Her breaths were getting shallower. She felt cold and colder as the deadly ice crept over her whole body, encasing her in its had shell. Dimly, she felt a force trying to take her magic. Emeraude... she thought hazily. In a desperate attempt to protect the cards form the evil one, Sakura expelled them from her body. The cards turned back into the feathes they once were and flew out into the worlds. But two remained. The shield and the flower stayed behind, drawn to their mistress by the nature of her spell. The shield would protect the Flower, her soul, until help arrived. Windy... Watery... Fiery...
Then, the ice found her heart.
Emeraude had been blown against the wall with the force of Sakura's magic. Now, she slowly picked herself off the ground and walked shakily over to where Sakura lay encased in ice.
"Heh... heheh..." Her voice wavered. Then, as if in disbelief, she poked her index finger at Sakura's frozen arm, thrown up to protect herself at the instant her magic flew back onto her.
"W-well, that takes care of that. But I still need to collect the power of Clow"-she laid the palm of her hand on the ice- "...What? It's gone!" Sakura's body felt devoid of magic, contrary to Emeraude's expectations. This threw a wrench in her plans. All of her schemes for power hinged on the Clow Cards. They would have provided unlimited resources, but all of that was gone now. For the first time in her life, Emeraude felt despair. This was the only time she had been denied something, for she had lived the life of a princess, despite barely holding a noble status. Her frustration built up inside of her, until it threatened to release itself in the form of fire, her most powerful element. The air around her heated up, a stage familiar to her mercenaries. They inched away, some slowly, most much faster.
But then, Emeraude felt a faint pulse, buried under the Princess's cold and stagnant soul. It wavered and strengthened in intervals, much like a heartbeat. "Aha..." She calmed down, realizing nothing had changed. The sudden disappearance of heat in the air was both a relief and a slap in the face. Not wanting to speak more, Emeraude wordlessly signaled one of her soldiers to carry Sakura back to the palace.
The man walked forward, but a bloody, gloved hand shot out to grab his ankle. He couldn't shake off Syaoran's iron grip, though Syaoran was battered and weak. He continued to protect his Princess, for she was his beloved.
Seeing his chance, Clef cast a shrinking spell, an emulation of Little, over his Princess. When Emeraude stopped in surprise, he caught Sakura in his hands and shot out through the door, to go far into the forest. Aided by a version of Dash, he far outran any soldiers sent to chase him.
Emeraude felt her dreams slipping away again.
-0-0-0-
Windy... Watery... Fiery...
Those were the last words the cards heard their Mistress say. They were scattered, now, separated from each other and the center. Disguised as feathers, they streamed through the worlds, landing on some, going past others. Windy, Watery, and Fiery, linked together through Sakura's spell, landed on one such world. A world called Earth.
-0-0-0-
Emeraude's anger from before returned in a flash. She was so angry that the ends of her perfectly styled hair caught on fire. The smell of burnt hair filled the house. Looking around for a target, her eyes quickly alighted on Syaoran.
"Now, for you, brat, I have something special..."
She raised her arm and a black hole appeared behind him. It started to pull him in, slowly. The evil grin was back on Emeraude's face. "Have a nice trip... Hahaha!"
She turned to another, her anger not yet spent. But before she could destroy the nearest soldier, she remembered the ones who gave shelter to Sakura and Syaoran. She flared again, setting the walls on fire. It quickly spread, until she looked like an insane criminal standing in the middle of her handiwork. As the fire grew to an inferno, her army swarmed out of the house. The captain pulled Emeraude out of the fire,but only so she could give them their pay.
Yukito was about to leap through the flames when he heard a cry.
"Help!"
Presea and her family were huddled together amidst the flames, her father trying to find a way out. Yukito quickly made his way over to them, and cast a shield over them, to protect them from the fire. Presea pressed her hands against the shimmering layer of magic, her eyes pleading for him to come with them. "No, little one. I go to join the King." Yukito told her with a small smile. Then, he pushed the globe as hard as he could.
-0-0-0-
Clef untangled the brambles from the hem of his robe for the hundredth time. With Sakura cradled carefully in his hand, he broke through the trees to the secret clearing in the center of the forest. Thesacred fountain still stood, he noted with relief. Clef sat down at the base of the fountain to rest after his escape from Emeraude. Then, he remembered his mission. Jolted back into action, he rubbed a rune on the underside of the fountain's "dish." The "water" began to glow, and Clef set Sakura in the center. She grew back to her original size; the light of the fountain reversed Clef's spell. Sakura slowly sank into the fountain.
Clef sat back, relieved. Now, the fountain would protect the Princess. But the bigger task still loomed ahead. The spell that had trapped Sakura drew power from the Princess's soul, because it was her own magic. Unless someone with enough power broke that spell, Sakura's magic would continue to drain, until she would die.
Clef had felt when the Princess had released the Clow cards to prolong her life. Every magic user sets up a spell like this in case they are killed or in a very compromising position, to make sure their enemies don't capture their magic. He now sent a string of his magic after the cards, to track the most powerful, Windy, Watery, and Fiery. Fervently, he prayed that they would be able to find someone who could save the Princess.
-0-0-0-
Emeraude paced in her royal chambers, after a long soak to get rid of the smoke and singed hair. She had to kill off all traces of Toya's reign to secure her throne, as this was the only way without Clow's magic. As an idea came to her, she sat down at her desk and started writing.
The next day, a decree went out through the kingdom.
By Order of the High Princess Emeraude
This country, now called Clow, shall be forevermore known as Cephiro.
Priest Zagato shall succeed the late High Priest Yukito, who recently died in an accident.
To commemorate this event, Her Royal Highness invites
the general public to a festival to be held outside the castle in three day's time.
So, here ends another chapter in the saga of Sakura's struggle against the evil Princess Emeraude. From the next chapter on, it'll get more and more MKR oriented, so if that's not for you, then don't read it. But I'd still like it if you reviewed.
