THE SHADOW CARD: Is strangley corporal in this chapter. La la la. I had a discussion with Justin and Caily about just how much real matter the Shadow Card can affect. We came up with this answer: Some... but not much. Why can it touch Eriol to a greater extent than everyone else? Well... Spinel explains. Sort of.
Cessation
Izzy Girl XIII and the plot thickens "I am REALLY getting sick of this wheather." Ruby threw her banana at the window and Spinel spared her an irritated glance over the top of his book. "That was painfully immature." he commented, then continued reading. Eriol watched the two quietly from where he was working dilligently, pouring over Clow's old books and volumes uselessly drawing connections and conclusions over and over again. It was a strange sensation, since it seemed as if he knew less and less on the subject every day. Of course, he was losing Clow's memories, but he always thought the knowledge was a learned attribute. He was now worried that by the time he was finished with the whole business he'd have to learn to breathe and walk all over again. Nevertheless, he was still aware enough that he could remember exactly what Clow had prophesized that night he left Kaho. He still knew what was going on at least, which gave him some measure of comfort despite the fact he couldn't exactly share this knowledge with his new-found colleages. Or did he? It was almost as if it came in flashes and it came from mental connections. He knew what was happening, but to explain it, he would need visual aids... and... what exactly was it he had been saying to Li-kun the other night? He shook it off. It didn't really matter whether he remembered or not anyways. Now that he was no longer Clow and was simply Eriol Hiiraizawa, he had ceased fitting into the equation. The best he could do was help Li-kun, Kinomoto-san and the others. It was very nice, he reflected, to also be working with Ruby and Spinel again. He felt as if they were his almost exclusively, after all, he had been the incarnation of Clow who had created him. They still had a hard time understanding the seperation of their former master and his vessel, but they pretended that they did anyways. "I would not worry too much about the wheather, Ruby." Eriol said lazily, reaching over his sea of papers to grasp his tea cup delicately. He sipped thoughtfully, "If Li-kun, Kinomoto-san and Keroberos do their job correctly, we will not have to worry about it much longer." As if on cue, the front entrance of Li manor burst open and in stumbled a very, very wet Touya with a very, very wet Kero seated atop his head. Tomoyo came next, with her video camera, notebook and umbrella, followed by Syaoran who was pale and dragging his sword out behind him like it weighed at least three times his weight. In his left hand he carried a card. Ruby jumped up and bounded from her seat. Syaoran sidestepped as she flew to glomp him and closed the door before he let the rain in. "You're my hero, Syao-chan!" she gushed, "So, when does the rain stop!?" Syaoran gave her a look of long suffering, "What are you talking about?" Ruby raised an eyebrow, "You DID capture the Storm card, did you not?" From the direction of the kitchen Kero laughed very loudly. He was soon joined by Touya, who was towelling down his dark hair with a dishcloth. Ruby looked as if she had just had a very ruel joke played on her. Syaoran crossed the kitchen heavily and placed the card face up on the table. Both Spinel and Eriol hunched over and peered through glasses to study it. "The Voice." Spinel observed. "As I recall, not exactly what you had set out to capture." Syaoran gave a non-commital shrug and mumbled something incomprehensible before ambling upstairs, presumably to change. It had been a little over two weeks since the incident with the wave card and Syaoran was indeed keeping true to his intent to ignore Eriol as much was humanly possible. The british boy just shrugged it off as usual, and turned his attention to the magically dry Tomoyo who had taken a seat beside him and was scribbling furiously in her now half-full notebook. Since her experience with the Watery card Tomoyo had taken to not only recording the behaviour of the cards on video, but documenting it as written word as well. She had first hidden it from the others, a bit ashamed of herself since she was doing it 'for Sakura'. "That sounds like quite the battle." Eriol commented as he read over Tomoyo's shoulder. "Tell me about it." Touya groaned, sliding into yet another extra seat around Syaoran's large, dining room table, "It probably wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the wheather, but as it was, when we got seperated it was impossible to see one another. The Voice card seemed to think it was funny to steal our voices instead of simply imitate them, so on top of us hearing everyone else's voice all over the place, we couldn't call out to each other either." "Hmm." Spinel sounded scientifically interested. He titled his head up at Touya, "How did you managed to capture it." Touya let a small, embarassed smile creep up his face, "Well, Kero and I were pretty much useless, but Tomoyo and Li both figured out ways around it." "Really?" "Yeah." Touya made a handgesture in Tomoyo's direction as if he expected her to finish, but she just continued writing, obviously completely absorbed in her work. He sighed and continued explaining anyways, "Well, I guess you could say Tomoyo used an alternative voice." "You mean she used her video camera?" Eriol wondered, looking up from over Tomoyo's shoulder. "She used an old recordings of Li during one of those battles in Penguin park." he mumbled and trailed off slightly, "Actually, it was a bit eerie, come to think of it, following his voice through a rainstorm while he was shouting Sakura's name, but..." his voice leapt back to conversational tone, "The brat himself didn't use sound to overcome the storm, but rather decided to use the rain to his advantage. He conducted his lightning charms through the puddles and sent these huge, distress flashes up into the air." "Which was dangerous and foolish of him." Tomoyo said dissaprovingly. "Which wasn't what you said when he caught the card in one of his electricity nets." "Well, no, but..." "And that's how this misbegotten band of teenagers and such managed to defeat perhaps the leats dangerous card we've faced so far, with minimal casualies." Touya said with finality, spreading his arms and sighing. Ruby pouted and tipped her head, "Well, that's all well and fine, but what exactly were you planning to do about our real problem?" "You mean the Storm?" Touya asked apprehensively. When Ruby nodded, he shrugged and hung his head, "Yes, well..." "We don't know." Kero finished, shakinvg the last droplets of rain off his wings, "We can't find where the storms are originating from and the card doesn't seem too eager to come to us..." "If only we KNEW why they were acting this way in the first place," Tomoyo repeated uselessly, tapping her pen against her notebook. The head of the pen made a dull thudding noise against the paper and Tomoyo wore an expression that said she was quite aware how pointless her words were. And Eriol grimaced. Tomoyo Daidouji did not speak useless words. That she did now was not a good sign. "There's not much else we can do today." Touya leaned his head back and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly, "It's not even noon and already I'm exhausted. I've got to get home anyways, before Dad worries." "Speaking of which..." Kero crossed his paws and raised a small eyebrow, "Where is your father?" Touya blinked and turned his gaze to look at the gaurdian on his shoulder. Kero stared right back, "He's been gone for days, you oaf. Don't tell me you didn't notice?" Touya shook his head and bit his lip. Everyone was silent for a moment. Eriol's breath caught in his throat as a thought came to him. But no- it couldn't be- he opened his mouth to say something, but the idea was gone before he could get it past his lips. Touya, Kero and Tomoyo suited up once again and forged out into the storm after exchanging appropiate pleasantries and Syaoran emerged from upstairs. Almost as if he had been waiting for them to leave. "You're wet." Eriol observed calmly, picking up his book again. Syaoran shrugged and went to the kitchen. Spinel rolled his eyes and Ruby snorted daintily, "I'm getting sick of his attitude." "Li-kun is as Li-kun is. There's no changing him." Ruby gave him a look. Eriol raised his eyes and met her perculiar gaze, "What?" he wondered. She shrugged, and his a slight grin, "Nothing. You're just so... complacent. Reminds me of the old days." Eriol furrowed his brow but Ruby wasn't looking at him anymore, "I'm afraid that I am at a loss, Ruby. What are you..." "She means you're almost like your old self. Before her." Spinel said this as he said everything: with authority and wisdom. But there was something else there. Something that told Eriol not to reply, which was unfortunate because he had no idea what his gaurdians were aluding to and was hard pressed to properly explain that his memory was like swiss cheese. The kettle began to whistle and a few moments later Syaoran was sitting at the table, quietly sipping a cup of steaming chinese tea. He was still dripping wet. "You're going to catch a cold." Ruby teased, and Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Don't say foolish things." Spinel muttered, "Everyone knows you don't catch colds from the cold." "You're really, really no fun." Ruby sighed and rested her chin in her palms. There was silence. Eriol imagined that they could have been a painting, the four of them. Himself and Spinel reading dilligently, Ruby pouting fakely and Syaoran drinking his tea and staring off into space gloomily. What happened next, happened very quickly. Ruby gasped, Spinel looked up, Syaoran dropped his tea all over the front of his shirt and didn't seem to care about how it was scalding his skin, and Eriol lept to his feet. "Something." Syaoran gasped, "There's something in the house." he threw his teacup, which shattered against the far wall, and began running for his bedroom to fetch his sword. Eriol wasted no time in summoning his staff. The incantments came a bit slower, and his staff no longer has the weight of power it once held but it would do. "How did a card get into the house?" Spinel asked, already transformed and loping in long strides towards the foryer. He glanced back at Eriol, "Didn't you have this place warded?" Eriol bit his lip and followed the gaurdian. His steps were slower, warier, "Yes, but..." he couldn't find the words. His power was fading. What was he supposed to say? Fortunately, Syaoran was only happy to fill in the blanks as he appeared at the top of the stairs in a defensive kata, "Hiiragizawa's getting rusty. Haven't you noticed?" Eriol shot him a sharp look, but the chinese boy either didn't notice, or had grown a surprisingly strong immunity towards such arcid looks. "Well, even so it would have to be a pretty powerful card to break through Eriol's sheilds." Ruby said, sticking her nose up, "Even at a fraction of his strength, Eriol still controls the power of Clow Reed." Eriol shook his head slightly, but didn't have the heart to contradict her. "Powerful?" Syaoran raised his eyebrows, "The only cards powerful enough to stand apart from the others are the Elementals. If one of those had broken in, we'd be torn apart by now." "Not necessarily." Spinel said quietly. Syaoran spun his head to glare at the Gaurdian. "Are you suggesting that the cards have aquired a sense of stealth in the past few weeks?" "No. I'm suggesting that perhaps the card we're dealing with did not in fact break through Eriol's sheilds, but rather... melted into it." He made a gesture with his head, craning his neck towards Syaoran. The chinese boy stopped breathing as he caught on and slowly turned around just in time to see the tall shadow looming behind him before it crashed down around him. He yelped, then was swallowed. "Li-kun!" Eriol shouted, and moved towards the shadow, but it moved too quickly. It flowed down the stairs, and beneath the mage's feet before anyone could so much as blink. Syaoran was regurgitated ungracefully at the foot of the curved banister, gasping and holding on to the hilt of his sword for dear life. Ruby and Eriol helped him to his feet. "It's like being under water." he panted, "But... thicker. Like you're being crushed!" "How do we fight it?" Ruby dropped Syaoran's arm and spread her wings, hovering just above the ground in an attempt to avoid the Shadow Card's grasp. She shivered, "It's not real. It's just a shadow." "It felt pretty real when I was inside of it." Syaoran growled, pulling away from Eriol's helping hands viciously, and re-assuming his battle stance. "Li! It's coming for you again!" Ruby shrieked. Eriol jumped and joined his Gaurdians in the air, but Syaoran raised his sword to slice at the dark figure. The sword didn't even hit. The Shadow simply rushed through Syaoran, knocking him to the ground. It didn't swallow him this time, however. It slithered towards Eriol and filled the shadow beneath the floating mage. And then it did nothing. Everyone froze where they were and watched the car wearily. After a few minutes had passed, Syaoran moved catiously, loosning his grip on his sword and relaxing slightly. "It wants you Hiiragizawa." he said. Eriol nodded and swallowed hard, "Yes. It would seem so." "Why don't you just capture it right now, Li?" Ruby wondered, "It's not doing anything." Syaoran shot her an incredelous look, but it was Spinel who answered, "The card hasn't been weakened. It will not be imprisoned willingly." Ruby blinked, "I knew that." she whispered. "Well, what do we do now?" Syaoran asked impatiently, "I don't think it's going to move until Hiiragizawa does." "The I suppose I shall have to move." Eriol supplied. Ruby looked at him in shock, but he simply shrugged, "Ruby Moon, if I indeed am infused with the power of Clow, the card should bend to my will. Correct?" Ruby sighed, nodded and turned her head. Eriol took a deep breath and tried to convince himself that what he had said was true. Even though he knew it wasn't. Even though he had experienced first hand how little Clow's prescence meant to the more rebellious cards. He swung his staff and lowered himself to the floor. The moment his feet touched hardwood, the Shadow twitched. Syaoran took a step back, his eyes widening in shock. The Shadow rose from the floor, pulsing and shaping itself into a human form. Eriol's fingers tightened around the length of his staff slightly, but other than that he showed no sign of alarm when he found himself standing face to face with a dark, featureless copy of himself. "This is an interesting turn of events." he murmered and rose his staff a split second before the shadow-Eriol swung, resulting in a perfect parry. He jumped back a few steps and spun his moon staff between his fingers, shortening the length a few feet in order to make it a more weildly weapon. The shadow followed suit and lunged for Eriol. Eriol blocked again, and spun forwards with the butt of his weapon only to be met with an equally perfect shadow-block. Back and forth, back and forth, neither gaining the upper hand unless one counted the beads of sweat forming on Eriol's brow, and the shortness of his breath as signs of fatigue. "This is ridiculous!" Spinel exclaimed, still sounding somewhat calm considering the situation, "You're shadow boxing, Eriol. You're not going to get anywheres fighting yourself!" "Especially when your opponent never tires!" Ruby added with worry. Eriol parried, jumped and replied, "I agree. Besides, I'm a magician." stab, "Not," dodge, "A," swing, "Warrior." he was hit and went flying. His back slammed against the stariwell's banister and he grunted. Ruby gasped and Spinel grimanced. Syaoran, who had been watching the entire battle with an unreadable expression moved very suddenly, slicing his blade through the shadow-Eriol's discoporate body. The shadow froze, aquiring a stance that seemed almost shocked, before turning on the chinese boy. "You may not be a warrior, Hiiragizawa," Syaoran began, "But I am." he met the shadow's blows easily, but the few hits he did get in simply cut through the shadow's body and threw him off balance. Eriol forced himself to his feet and furrowed his brows. Syaoran was fighting well. If he were facing a real opponent, there would be no doubt which combatant was the winner, and which the loser. But... but... but... Eriol's eyes went to Syaoran's shadow, which moved with just as much fluidity, grace and skill as it's owner. The shadow was bleeding into it, and Eriol realized that he was the only one who noticed it. "Li-kun! Move away from the card right now!" he yelled. Syaoran snorted and dug his blade deep into the shadow's stomach to no avail, "What the hell are you yelling about, Hiiragizawa!? I'm winning! Just seal the goddamn card and get it over with!" The copy-Eriol's fighting was growing sloppy, but Syaoran's shadow was almost completely filled in. Spinel noticed, "Li-kun, listen to Eriol! If you don't move right now-" Spinel never finished his warning. It wouldn't have mattered anyways. Copy-Eriol disappeared without warning and Syaoran stumbled forwards, disorientated and offbalance. Behind him, rose a shadow in the form of Li Syaoran- sword, kata and all. Syaoran looked over his shoulder. "Oh shit." he stated eloquently, and flung his sword up in front of him in a sloppy, fearful attempt at defense. But the Shadow didn't care about Syaoran. Indeed, the chinese boy had been correct when he stated that the card wanted Eriol. It went straight for him and the mage did not see it coming until it was too late. The shadow's sword buried itself in Eriol's torso with surprising force. Eriol's gray eyes went wide, then glassy, then dark. He tried to cry out, but his mouth was dry and his voice silenced. The shadow withdrew the blade and the mage crumpled to the floor wordlessly. It's mission accomplished, the shadow dropped Syaoran's form and melted back into the floor, sliding under the door and making itself scarce. In the silence that followed, Ruby ran to her master, but stopped short, her mouth falling open in horror. Spinel hadn't even made an attempt to move from where he was hovering just above the stairs. Syaoran's sword clattered to the ground and he took three hesitant steps forwards. "Hi-Hiiragizawa?" he whispered fearfully. Eriol Hiiragizawa was still breathing despite having a gaping hole in his midsection. It was not his wound that filled his Gaurdian's face with terror. It was not the pain on his face that drew out the unusual sympathy in Syaoran's voice. It was not the shallowness of his breath that froze Spinel Sun in his spot. No. Eriol Hiiragizawa had been imapled to near death... but he was not bleeding.
Izzy Girl XIII and the plot thickens "I am REALLY getting sick of this wheather." Ruby threw her banana at the window and Spinel spared her an irritated glance over the top of his book. "That was painfully immature." he commented, then continued reading. Eriol watched the two quietly from where he was working dilligently, pouring over Clow's old books and volumes uselessly drawing connections and conclusions over and over again. It was a strange sensation, since it seemed as if he knew less and less on the subject every day. Of course, he was losing Clow's memories, but he always thought the knowledge was a learned attribute. He was now worried that by the time he was finished with the whole business he'd have to learn to breathe and walk all over again. Nevertheless, he was still aware enough that he could remember exactly what Clow had prophesized that night he left Kaho. He still knew what was going on at least, which gave him some measure of comfort despite the fact he couldn't exactly share this knowledge with his new-found colleages. Or did he? It was almost as if it came in flashes and it came from mental connections. He knew what was happening, but to explain it, he would need visual aids... and... what exactly was it he had been saying to Li-kun the other night? He shook it off. It didn't really matter whether he remembered or not anyways. Now that he was no longer Clow and was simply Eriol Hiiraizawa, he had ceased fitting into the equation. The best he could do was help Li-kun, Kinomoto-san and the others. It was very nice, he reflected, to also be working with Ruby and Spinel again. He felt as if they were his almost exclusively, after all, he had been the incarnation of Clow who had created him. They still had a hard time understanding the seperation of their former master and his vessel, but they pretended that they did anyways. "I would not worry too much about the wheather, Ruby." Eriol said lazily, reaching over his sea of papers to grasp his tea cup delicately. He sipped thoughtfully, "If Li-kun, Kinomoto-san and Keroberos do their job correctly, we will not have to worry about it much longer." As if on cue, the front entrance of Li manor burst open and in stumbled a very, very wet Touya with a very, very wet Kero seated atop his head. Tomoyo came next, with her video camera, notebook and umbrella, followed by Syaoran who was pale and dragging his sword out behind him like it weighed at least three times his weight. In his left hand he carried a card. Ruby jumped up and bounded from her seat. Syaoran sidestepped as she flew to glomp him and closed the door before he let the rain in. "You're my hero, Syao-chan!" she gushed, "So, when does the rain stop!?" Syaoran gave her a look of long suffering, "What are you talking about?" Ruby raised an eyebrow, "You DID capture the Storm card, did you not?" From the direction of the kitchen Kero laughed very loudly. He was soon joined by Touya, who was towelling down his dark hair with a dishcloth. Ruby looked as if she had just had a very ruel joke played on her. Syaoran crossed the kitchen heavily and placed the card face up on the table. Both Spinel and Eriol hunched over and peered through glasses to study it. "The Voice." Spinel observed. "As I recall, not exactly what you had set out to capture." Syaoran gave a non-commital shrug and mumbled something incomprehensible before ambling upstairs, presumably to change. It had been a little over two weeks since the incident with the wave card and Syaoran was indeed keeping true to his intent to ignore Eriol as much was humanly possible. The british boy just shrugged it off as usual, and turned his attention to the magically dry Tomoyo who had taken a seat beside him and was scribbling furiously in her now half-full notebook. Since her experience with the Watery card Tomoyo had taken to not only recording the behaviour of the cards on video, but documenting it as written word as well. She had first hidden it from the others, a bit ashamed of herself since she was doing it 'for Sakura'. "That sounds like quite the battle." Eriol commented as he read over Tomoyo's shoulder. "Tell me about it." Touya groaned, sliding into yet another extra seat around Syaoran's large, dining room table, "It probably wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the wheather, but as it was, when we got seperated it was impossible to see one another. The Voice card seemed to think it was funny to steal our voices instead of simply imitate them, so on top of us hearing everyone else's voice all over the place, we couldn't call out to each other either." "Hmm." Spinel sounded scientifically interested. He titled his head up at Touya, "How did you managed to capture it." Touya let a small, embarassed smile creep up his face, "Well, Kero and I were pretty much useless, but Tomoyo and Li both figured out ways around it." "Really?" "Yeah." Touya made a handgesture in Tomoyo's direction as if he expected her to finish, but she just continued writing, obviously completely absorbed in her work. He sighed and continued explaining anyways, "Well, I guess you could say Tomoyo used an alternative voice." "You mean she used her video camera?" Eriol wondered, looking up from over Tomoyo's shoulder. "She used an old recordings of Li during one of those battles in Penguin park." he mumbled and trailed off slightly, "Actually, it was a bit eerie, come to think of it, following his voice through a rainstorm while he was shouting Sakura's name, but..." his voice leapt back to conversational tone, "The brat himself didn't use sound to overcome the storm, but rather decided to use the rain to his advantage. He conducted his lightning charms through the puddles and sent these huge, distress flashes up into the air." "Which was dangerous and foolish of him." Tomoyo said dissaprovingly. "Which wasn't what you said when he caught the card in one of his electricity nets." "Well, no, but..." "And that's how this misbegotten band of teenagers and such managed to defeat perhaps the leats dangerous card we've faced so far, with minimal casualies." Touya said with finality, spreading his arms and sighing. Ruby pouted and tipped her head, "Well, that's all well and fine, but what exactly were you planning to do about our real problem?" "You mean the Storm?" Touya asked apprehensively. When Ruby nodded, he shrugged and hung his head, "Yes, well..." "We don't know." Kero finished, shakinvg the last droplets of rain off his wings, "We can't find where the storms are originating from and the card doesn't seem too eager to come to us..." "If only we KNEW why they were acting this way in the first place," Tomoyo repeated uselessly, tapping her pen against her notebook. The head of the pen made a dull thudding noise against the paper and Tomoyo wore an expression that said she was quite aware how pointless her words were. And Eriol grimaced. Tomoyo Daidouji did not speak useless words. That she did now was not a good sign. "There's not much else we can do today." Touya leaned his head back and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly, "It's not even noon and already I'm exhausted. I've got to get home anyways, before Dad worries." "Speaking of which..." Kero crossed his paws and raised a small eyebrow, "Where is your father?" Touya blinked and turned his gaze to look at the gaurdian on his shoulder. Kero stared right back, "He's been gone for days, you oaf. Don't tell me you didn't notice?" Touya shook his head and bit his lip. Everyone was silent for a moment. Eriol's breath caught in his throat as a thought came to him. But no- it couldn't be- he opened his mouth to say something, but the idea was gone before he could get it past his lips. Touya, Kero and Tomoyo suited up once again and forged out into the storm after exchanging appropiate pleasantries and Syaoran emerged from upstairs. Almost as if he had been waiting for them to leave. "You're wet." Eriol observed calmly, picking up his book again. Syaoran shrugged and went to the kitchen. Spinel rolled his eyes and Ruby snorted daintily, "I'm getting sick of his attitude." "Li-kun is as Li-kun is. There's no changing him." Ruby gave him a look. Eriol raised his eyes and met her perculiar gaze, "What?" he wondered. She shrugged, and his a slight grin, "Nothing. You're just so... complacent. Reminds me of the old days." Eriol furrowed his brow but Ruby wasn't looking at him anymore, "I'm afraid that I am at a loss, Ruby. What are you..." "She means you're almost like your old self. Before her." Spinel said this as he said everything: with authority and wisdom. But there was something else there. Something that told Eriol not to reply, which was unfortunate because he had no idea what his gaurdians were aluding to and was hard pressed to properly explain that his memory was like swiss cheese. The kettle began to whistle and a few moments later Syaoran was sitting at the table, quietly sipping a cup of steaming chinese tea. He was still dripping wet. "You're going to catch a cold." Ruby teased, and Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Don't say foolish things." Spinel muttered, "Everyone knows you don't catch colds from the cold." "You're really, really no fun." Ruby sighed and rested her chin in her palms. There was silence. Eriol imagined that they could have been a painting, the four of them. Himself and Spinel reading dilligently, Ruby pouting fakely and Syaoran drinking his tea and staring off into space gloomily. What happened next, happened very quickly. Ruby gasped, Spinel looked up, Syaoran dropped his tea all over the front of his shirt and didn't seem to care about how it was scalding his skin, and Eriol lept to his feet. "Something." Syaoran gasped, "There's something in the house." he threw his teacup, which shattered against the far wall, and began running for his bedroom to fetch his sword. Eriol wasted no time in summoning his staff. The incantments came a bit slower, and his staff no longer has the weight of power it once held but it would do. "How did a card get into the house?" Spinel asked, already transformed and loping in long strides towards the foryer. He glanced back at Eriol, "Didn't you have this place warded?" Eriol bit his lip and followed the gaurdian. His steps were slower, warier, "Yes, but..." he couldn't find the words. His power was fading. What was he supposed to say? Fortunately, Syaoran was only happy to fill in the blanks as he appeared at the top of the stairs in a defensive kata, "Hiiragizawa's getting rusty. Haven't you noticed?" Eriol shot him a sharp look, but the chinese boy either didn't notice, or had grown a surprisingly strong immunity towards such arcid looks. "Well, even so it would have to be a pretty powerful card to break through Eriol's sheilds." Ruby said, sticking her nose up, "Even at a fraction of his strength, Eriol still controls the power of Clow Reed." Eriol shook his head slightly, but didn't have the heart to contradict her. "Powerful?" Syaoran raised his eyebrows, "The only cards powerful enough to stand apart from the others are the Elementals. If one of those had broken in, we'd be torn apart by now." "Not necessarily." Spinel said quietly. Syaoran spun his head to glare at the Gaurdian. "Are you suggesting that the cards have aquired a sense of stealth in the past few weeks?" "No. I'm suggesting that perhaps the card we're dealing with did not in fact break through Eriol's sheilds, but rather... melted into it." He made a gesture with his head, craning his neck towards Syaoran. The chinese boy stopped breathing as he caught on and slowly turned around just in time to see the tall shadow looming behind him before it crashed down around him. He yelped, then was swallowed. "Li-kun!" Eriol shouted, and moved towards the shadow, but it moved too quickly. It flowed down the stairs, and beneath the mage's feet before anyone could so much as blink. Syaoran was regurgitated ungracefully at the foot of the curved banister, gasping and holding on to the hilt of his sword for dear life. Ruby and Eriol helped him to his feet. "It's like being under water." he panted, "But... thicker. Like you're being crushed!" "How do we fight it?" Ruby dropped Syaoran's arm and spread her wings, hovering just above the ground in an attempt to avoid the Shadow Card's grasp. She shivered, "It's not real. It's just a shadow." "It felt pretty real when I was inside of it." Syaoran growled, pulling away from Eriol's helping hands viciously, and re-assuming his battle stance. "Li! It's coming for you again!" Ruby shrieked. Eriol jumped and joined his Gaurdians in the air, but Syaoran raised his sword to slice at the dark figure. The sword didn't even hit. The Shadow simply rushed through Syaoran, knocking him to the ground. It didn't swallow him this time, however. It slithered towards Eriol and filled the shadow beneath the floating mage. And then it did nothing. Everyone froze where they were and watched the car wearily. After a few minutes had passed, Syaoran moved catiously, loosning his grip on his sword and relaxing slightly. "It wants you Hiiragizawa." he said. Eriol nodded and swallowed hard, "Yes. It would seem so." "Why don't you just capture it right now, Li?" Ruby wondered, "It's not doing anything." Syaoran shot her an incredelous look, but it was Spinel who answered, "The card hasn't been weakened. It will not be imprisoned willingly." Ruby blinked, "I knew that." she whispered. "Well, what do we do now?" Syaoran asked impatiently, "I don't think it's going to move until Hiiragizawa does." "The I suppose I shall have to move." Eriol supplied. Ruby looked at him in shock, but he simply shrugged, "Ruby Moon, if I indeed am infused with the power of Clow, the card should bend to my will. Correct?" Ruby sighed, nodded and turned her head. Eriol took a deep breath and tried to convince himself that what he had said was true. Even though he knew it wasn't. Even though he had experienced first hand how little Clow's prescence meant to the more rebellious cards. He swung his staff and lowered himself to the floor. The moment his feet touched hardwood, the Shadow twitched. Syaoran took a step back, his eyes widening in shock. The Shadow rose from the floor, pulsing and shaping itself into a human form. Eriol's fingers tightened around the length of his staff slightly, but other than that he showed no sign of alarm when he found himself standing face to face with a dark, featureless copy of himself. "This is an interesting turn of events." he murmered and rose his staff a split second before the shadow-Eriol swung, resulting in a perfect parry. He jumped back a few steps and spun his moon staff between his fingers, shortening the length a few feet in order to make it a more weildly weapon. The shadow followed suit and lunged for Eriol. Eriol blocked again, and spun forwards with the butt of his weapon only to be met with an equally perfect shadow-block. Back and forth, back and forth, neither gaining the upper hand unless one counted the beads of sweat forming on Eriol's brow, and the shortness of his breath as signs of fatigue. "This is ridiculous!" Spinel exclaimed, still sounding somewhat calm considering the situation, "You're shadow boxing, Eriol. You're not going to get anywheres fighting yourself!" "Especially when your opponent never tires!" Ruby added with worry. Eriol parried, jumped and replied, "I agree. Besides, I'm a magician." stab, "Not," dodge, "A," swing, "Warrior." he was hit and went flying. His back slammed against the stariwell's banister and he grunted. Ruby gasped and Spinel grimanced. Syaoran, who had been watching the entire battle with an unreadable expression moved very suddenly, slicing his blade through the shadow-Eriol's discoporate body. The shadow froze, aquiring a stance that seemed almost shocked, before turning on the chinese boy. "You may not be a warrior, Hiiragizawa," Syaoran began, "But I am." he met the shadow's blows easily, but the few hits he did get in simply cut through the shadow's body and threw him off balance. Eriol forced himself to his feet and furrowed his brows. Syaoran was fighting well. If he were facing a real opponent, there would be no doubt which combatant was the winner, and which the loser. But... but... but... Eriol's eyes went to Syaoran's shadow, which moved with just as much fluidity, grace and skill as it's owner. The shadow was bleeding into it, and Eriol realized that he was the only one who noticed it. "Li-kun! Move away from the card right now!" he yelled. Syaoran snorted and dug his blade deep into the shadow's stomach to no avail, "What the hell are you yelling about, Hiiragizawa!? I'm winning! Just seal the goddamn card and get it over with!" The copy-Eriol's fighting was growing sloppy, but Syaoran's shadow was almost completely filled in. Spinel noticed, "Li-kun, listen to Eriol! If you don't move right now-" Spinel never finished his warning. It wouldn't have mattered anyways. Copy-Eriol disappeared without warning and Syaoran stumbled forwards, disorientated and offbalance. Behind him, rose a shadow in the form of Li Syaoran- sword, kata and all. Syaoran looked over his shoulder. "Oh shit." he stated eloquently, and flung his sword up in front of him in a sloppy, fearful attempt at defense. But the Shadow didn't care about Syaoran. Indeed, the chinese boy had been correct when he stated that the card wanted Eriol. It went straight for him and the mage did not see it coming until it was too late. The shadow's sword buried itself in Eriol's torso with surprising force. Eriol's gray eyes went wide, then glassy, then dark. He tried to cry out, but his mouth was dry and his voice silenced. The shadow withdrew the blade and the mage crumpled to the floor wordlessly. It's mission accomplished, the shadow dropped Syaoran's form and melted back into the floor, sliding under the door and making itself scarce. In the silence that followed, Ruby ran to her master, but stopped short, her mouth falling open in horror. Spinel hadn't even made an attempt to move from where he was hovering just above the stairs. Syaoran's sword clattered to the ground and he took three hesitant steps forwards. "Hi-Hiiragizawa?" he whispered fearfully. Eriol Hiiragizawa was still breathing despite having a gaping hole in his midsection. It was not his wound that filled his Gaurdian's face with terror. It was not the pain on his face that drew out the unusual sympathy in Syaoran's voice. It was not the shallowness of his breath that froze Spinel Sun in his spot. No. Eriol Hiiragizawa had been imapled to near death... but he was not bleeding.