Introduction
A year has passed since Li fell prey to the Evil Card, and he's trying to cope with the effects. With his dark side closer to the surface, he can get angry very quickly – a fact that everyone notices.
Since he moved back to Readington, Sakura has been the rock in his life, the only person able to keep him balanced. But when an argument gets out of hand, Li makes a drastic decision…to walk out of her life forever.
Another year passes, and Sakura is once again under threat from evil forces. But without Li to protect her, is this the end for the 16 year old Card Mistress?
The scars of the past come back to haunt them…Chapter Three; Dark Dreams
It is a dark, yet moonlit night. Four figures stand on the roof of the Elementary School. They are all shrouded in darkness, so Sakura can't see who any of them are. Then one steps forward into the light, and she finally sees his face.
It is a face that should only be seen in nightmares. With pale skin and glowing red eyes, he sneers, and speaks to her.
"We'll get you Cherry Blossom. Your time is up." He suddenly lunges for her, and Sakura realises that she won't get out of the way in time. As the white hand reaches for her throat, she screams in terror….
"Sakura! Sakura!" Sakura snapped awake at the sound of someone calling her name. Still panting in terror, she looked up to see Tori and her father standing there, their eyes full of worry.
"What's wrong? You were screaming…" Sakura managed to calm herself down, and smiled at her family.
"It's nothing. Really. I just had a bad dream."
"Well, if you're sure..." Slowly, the two left, looking doubtful. Almost as soon as they were gone, Kero floated out of her drawer, and came over.
"So, what was it?"
"Huh?"
"The dream." As the girl glanced away, Kero flew round to face her again.
"Come on Sakura, it may be important."
"Ok….I'm standing in front of the Elementary School. It's night-time. And four figures are standing on the roof. But the thing is, I can't see their faces, so I don't know who they are. Then I see one of them. He's just…terrible. He has red eyes, and pale skin. He grabs for me, then I wake up." She shivered, and pulled the covers up around her.
"And they say that they'll get me…my time is up." Kero patted her head reassuringly.
"It's alright, Sakura. Get some rest. I'm sure it's nothing…" As she dropped back to sleep, Kero stayed floating for a while, thinking. >Could it really be them? After all this time? But there used to be three…have they finally found a new member?>
"Wow, Sakura. You look rough today." Sakura managed a small smile as her friends looked at her worriedly.
"I'm alright. I just didn't get much sleep last night."
"Ohh…are you still missing Li?" asked Rita. Sakura started in surprise.
"No! I mean, yeah, of course I miss him. But it was a bad dream that kept me up last night, not Li." She turned and made for her seat, shaking slightly.
>That's right. He'll have been gone a year soon. But I haven't been thinking about him that much. I've moved on…haven't I?>
"Sakura!" Madison poked her friend in the side, a worried look on her face.
"Mr. Yoko's called your name twice on the register. Hurry up and answer!" she whispered.
"Huh? Oh, right. Here Sir!"
"What do you think, Yue? Could they really be back after all these years?" Kero watched as the Moon Guardian pursed his lips in thought, pacing slightly. It made him look surprisingly human.
"It could be. We knew that Clow Reed's binding spell wouldn't hold forever. But until we know for sure, we shouldn't tell Sakura. She has enough stress in her life already." Kero smirked, his mouth twitching.
"You know, for someone who says he doesn't care about anyone, you show a remarkable amount of concern." Yue looked away, his sapphire cats eyes narrowing at Kero's words.
"Nonsense. You know very well that I only see her as my Mistress, just as she sees me only as her guardian."
"But Yue, you know she doesn't just think of you as…"
"For once in your life, be quiet, Keroberos!" Kero fell silent, and Yue inclined his head.
"That's better. Now, listen to me. Watch Sakura closely. She may be in danger. And see if she has any more dreams." Kero nodded, than cocked his head to the side.
"What about the new addition?"
Yue thought about it, his eyes glazing as he became lost in thought.
"That's more worrying. If it is the 'Big Three', or the 'Big Four' as they must be now, this new member must be extremely powerful. They haven't had a new member in over 300 years, so to accept someone now…we must be on our guard. Because if it is who we think it is, we could be in trouble…"
>It's the dream again…> Sakura gazes fearfully up at the roof of the school, watching as the pale man stands there smirking.
"We'll get you Cherry Blossom. Your time is up." Then another figure glides forward, and Sakura shrinks back in fear, This new person looks to be barely more than a child, with long dark hair and a purple shirt. Yet her eyes glow a ruby red, and when she speaks, Sakura knows that this child is older than she seems.
"A new age is dawning, Cherry Blossom. We come for the cards…whether you give them up willingly or not!" Her insane laughter fills the air, and Sakura backs away, pressing her hands over her ears. >Please, let it stop. No more…I can't take it anymore…>
"Miss Avalon! Wake up!" Sakura stirred, and jerked upright as she realised the whole class were laughing at her. Sweatdropping, she peeked up at the furious face of Miss. Pritch, the history teacher.
"I'm…I'm sorry Miss. Pritch. I didn't get much sleep last night, so…" Miss Pritch's golden eyes softened, and she shook her head in exasperation.
"It's true, you don't usually do things like this. Very well, since it's obvious you can't do schoolwork in this condition, I suggest that you go home and catch up on your beauty sleep. Not that you need it – you're not an old woman like me!" She winked, and Sakura smiled gratefully as she headed for the door.
Madison caught her sleeve, and when Sakura bent to see what was wrong, the raven-haired girl kindly offered to get all of Sakura's assignments for her.
"Of course, in return, you have to let me come over later!" Madison said, a soft smile on her face.
"Deal. See you later, Madison."
As Sakura made her way past reception and through the doors, something knocked into her hard, and Sakura let out a cry of shock. But as she did, she heard someone else call out in surprise. Opening her eyes, she saw a girl about her own age standing there, her own eyes scrunched tightly shut.
"Oh God, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bash into you! Just don't beat me up…" The corner of Sakura's mouth lifted in a smile, and she gently put a hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl started, and glanced up at Sakura with fear in her chocolate coloured eyes.
"Don't worry about it. Are you new here?" The girl nodded, smiling now she realised that Sakura wasn't going to beat her up.
"Yeah, I just moved here. I'm Natalie Mizuji." She stuck out a hand, and Sakura took it.
"Hi. I'm Sakura Avalon. So Natalie, what was the 'don't beat me up' about?"
Natalie shrugged sheepishly, and blushed.
"I was afraid I'd walked into a senior who'd pummel me…" Laughing, Sakura patted her new friend on the arm.
"That sort of thing doesn't happen at Readington High School. So that's one less thing to worry about."
"Yeah. Thanks for not getting angry. I better go find my class, before I'm really in trouble. See ya!"
Sakura watched as the girl ran up the stairs, and shook her head. That hyperactive girl could probably give Li's sisters a run for their money…
"Kero! I'm home!" Sakura shut the door, and went up to her room.
"Sakura? Shouldn't you still be at school? You're not playing truant are you?" Kero looked up from where he'd been reading a comic, a puzzled expression on his tiny face.
"No, Kero. I was sleeping in class, so Miss. Pritch told me to go home and catch up on my rest."
"Ohhh…" Kero floated up so that he was level with Sakura, and said offhandedly, as though he couldn't care less,
"So, did you happen to have another dream?"
Sakura stared at him, caught off guard.
"That's amazing, Kero! I did have another dream!" The guardian beast tensed slightly, but continued on casually.
"So, what was it about?"
"Well, it was just the same as the last one, except that another person was revealed. She was a kid, like me, except I think she was really a lot older than she looked. And she said she was after the cards…"
"Yeah, go on!" Sakura broke off, and narrowed her eyes at Kero, who'd been hanging on her every word.
"You've been talking with Yue, haven't you?" Kero jumped backwards in mid-air, caught by surprise.
"Wha…what do mean?"
"You went to talk to Yue about my last dream, and he told you to see if I had any more."
"Even if I did, so what?"
Kero sweatdropped as Sakura suddenly grabbed his tail and pulled him close.
"So that means you know something about all this. Which you're trying to hide from me." >Man, she's good> Kero thought, gulping as she pulled him closer.
"And you're going to tell me, aren't you?" Her sweet smile sent shudders down his spine, and Kero tried vainly to get away, calling out at the top of his lungs….
"Yueeeeeee!"
Thankyou so much for all the reviews I've been getting for this story and its prequel, The Evil Within You. Please keep it up!
I'm afraid this story will be updated slower than my last one, because I'm actually still writing this. So please be patient, and don't give up on it!