Cardcaptor Sakura: Land Without Magic
CCS: LWM arc
Sakura and the Sin Cards
"Do we believe her?" Meiling asked the others: not caring that Jun could hear her. She, along with Syaoran, faced down the approaching horde of bodies that threatened to hurt them. "Do we believe this is the work of a card?"
Sakura still could not detect magic emanating from the horde. The only magic she could sense was from Jun.
The bodies reached toward Syaoran and Meiling. They became aggressive. Fighting ensued. All the while the bodies began to grow a deeper, sickly purple while others began to grow pale, and others still began to vomit and fall out.
Syaoran coughed. He kept fighting though. Meiling coughed soon after. They were outnumbered. They began to cough violently.
Sakura worried that she had hesitated too long.
"Sakura," Jun called to her. "I want to help but not if you don't want me to. Say the word, and I'll reveal the cards to you."
Cards? Did that mean now there was more than one? Sakura turned from Syaoran and Meiling, who looked like they were about to collapse, to Jun before she focused on keeping her friends safe.
"Under the name of Sakura," she shouted, "channel all your might and draw all these people away from us…Gravitation! Bring Syaoran and Meiling safely to my side…Flight!
Gravitation indeed drew the horde to the other side of the Statue of Liberty while Flight brought Syaoran and Meiling into the air as they collapsed before planting them beside Sakura.
Sakura and Tomoyo looked upon Syaoran and Meiling. They were both worried. They had never encountered a card like this
"This won't be enough," Jun said.
Sakura looked to the horde, which was already beginning to break from Gravitation's pull and reach for and head toward them again.
When Syaoran and Meiling arose, their skin beginning to match that of the others, Sakura pulled Tomoyo back with her. Syaoran and Meiling made to attack Sakura and Tomoyo. Sakura thought about utilizing Struggle, but she didn't want to hurt Syaoran or Meiling. She also didn't want herself or Tomoyo to contract this sickness that spread to whoever this card or these cards came into contact with. Sakura and Tomoyo saw. Jun pulled out her very own key.
Neither Sakura nor Tomoyo could believe their eyes.
Jun's key resembled the symbol over her heart: a Crescent Moon and a Single Star that rested at the end of it was enveloped by a Crimson Ring, with a Dove wing on one side of it and a Bat wing on the other side of it.
"Key that unleashes the destructive force from within! Show me your true form! Release!"
The Key didn't become a staff; it became Jun's Arm of Chaos. She spun it from one hand to the next around her until she held it in one hand. She reminded Sakura of a gunslinger. Sakura and Tomoya saw the magic circle underneath Jun, which also contained Jun's symbol. Jun held the Arm toward the air:
"Spirit Key, Unleash my might
Moonlight, Sunlight; help me end this fight
Conceal the Day; Illuminate the Night!
Eclipse!"
Jun shot into the air, launching a crimson bullet that exploded and caused a minor eclipse. A moment later, Syaoran, Meiling, all the bodies, and a giant figure, creature of purple slime with a large flea-like parasite attached to the center of its chest focused on Jun. They all moved toward her.
"Sakura," Jun called to her. "It's my job to reveal the cards, their Corrupt Forms, and destroy them: these Sin Cards. They'll bring about the end of everything and everyone if I don't. It's your job to reform them, capture them, in their Pure Forms." She quickly pulled a card from her brown leather pouch because she was in danger.
"Take me out of harm's reach, Maneuver!" Jun instructed.
Sakura could only see Jun's symbol on the back of the card before Jun threw it forward and shot a crimson bullet threw it. Afterward, Jun blew the smoke from her Arm.
A Dragonfly-like Creature Barrette with an Indigo body and Ruby eyes attached itself to the front, on the side, of Jun's hair. It granted her the ability to move out of range and evade the sickly bodies and the fighting skills of Syaoran and Meiling.
"I don't have the power to capture cards," Jun said. "I don't have the power to capture these cards. If I did, they might corrupt my magic and me. You? I know you can do it…Because you're the most powerful magician in the world: Cardcaptor Sakura."
Sakura couldn't fathom it: cards that might actively want to kill or end the world…Were they sick?
"These are cards that need my help…"
"Capture them Sakura," Jun advised. "Only you can put them on the right path."
"I'm with you Jun," Sakura said without giving it another thought. She decided, at least for that moment and for these Sin Cards, to assist Jun: work with her.
Jun had been keeping the Corrupt Cards it seemed and those affected by them on her trail. She gathered them together before she backed up from them and put a little distance between them. She pulled out another card from her brown leather pouch. She threw it forward before she took her shot.
"Freeze them where they stand, Arctic!" Jun instructed.
A crimson bullet went through it. Jun blew smoke from the Arm once again.
A giant Arctic Fox with Topaz eyes appeared before Jun. She placed a hand on its muzzle before it turned toward its enemies and opponents, opening its mouth and encasing them all in Ice.
Sakura didn't have a card for what she wanted to do, but she already had in mind the card she would create to do it.
"Under the name of Sakura," she shouted, "Staff of Dream… convert all your might, set this wrong right, and purify….Cure!"
From her Staff, lights and feathers came together until they became a winged feminine figure. She had long hair that reached to the middle of her back and ended in a short ponytail. She wore a short, short-sleeved white robe tied around her waist, and a pink silk scarf tied neatly around her neck. She flew around the frozen landscape. She hugged herself before she extended out her hands and the light and feathers encircled everything. There was a flash of light. Everybody affected was back to normal although unconscious. Cure disappeared, becoming a card that came to Sakura. Along with Cure came Poison and Control. While Cure was a Clear Card, Poison and Control were cards that were Black and Dark Violet. The symbol on the back of them: that of a Pentagram.
Poison resembled a mischievous teenaged boy with the wicked grin to boot: toxic sludge fell from his hand.
Control resembled a prim and proper elderly woman, sitting in a refined chair and holding onto a refined cane: a tarantula sat upon her hand that held the cane – a large, artistic web was displayed behind her.
Sakura immediately went to attend to Syaoran and Meiling as everyone began to regain consciousness.
Tomoyo watched Jun, as she stood by surveying the scene: amazed and impressed by Sakura, and went to attend to her.
"Are you okay?" Tomoyo asked Jun.
"I'm fine," Jun said. "Thanks for asking. I don't think Syaoran and Meiling trust me. He keeps glancing over at me, and she keeps glaring and scowling at me."
"You know who they are too," Tomoyo said. "That probably means you know me as well. How?"
"Oh," Jun said, grabbing onto the back of her neck, stretching, and looking away. "Who in the magic community doesn't know you four…?"
"I know who you are," Tomoyo said; she spoke low. "You're Syaoran and Sakura's daughter: from the future."
"What makes you say that?" Jun asked: a little taken aback but trying to play it off. "That's a wild idea."
"You look just like them both," Tomoyo said. "I can see the similarities: in your eyes, in your personality."
"You can't tell them," Jun said. "I shouldn't be in this time, neither should the Sin Cards, so if I or they interfere too much…I could cease to exist. The future I know and all of you are supposed to know would unravel and cease to exist."
"Don't worry," Tomoyo said. "Sakura is the best. She wouldn't let that happen, but I'll keep your secret. I'm rather good at keeping them." She smiled.
Jun couldn't help tilt her head and laugh softly.
"Mom always said you were the best," Jun said. "I guess that never changes because you still are."
Sakura joined Jun and Tomoyo, bringing Syaoran and Meiling with her. Tomoyo and Jun could see those two were reluctant to interact with the stranger.
"I came here on a mission," Jun explained, "or you could say I was sent here…sent to you." She was trying to make the situation less tense, but she wasn't having much luck.
"By who?" Syaoran questioned her.
"Clow Reed," Jun answered.
"I don't believe you," Syaoran said.
"She has to be lying," Meiling said.
"Let's hear her out," Sakura said, listening intently.
"Sakura," Jun said. "My mission has to become our mission. I hope after you hear my story… you'll agree."
"We should go back to the hostel," Tomoyo suggested. "Here might not be the best place for this conversation."
A crowd began to gather around the five young people.
"Meiling, Syaoran, and Sakura," Tomoyo said, "you guys go ahead. We'll meet you there."
Sakura wondered why Tomoyo would want to split up and go with Jun too, but when she looked to Tomoyo she understood. She wanted to give Sakura time to convince Syaoran and Meiling not to treat Jun like an enemy. Tomoyo trusted Jun. Tomoyo tended to have a great judge of character. Jun genuinely seemed like she was there to help. Sakura decided she would trust in and believe in Jun too. She would convince the others of this as well.
"We'll meet you there," Sakura said. "Be safe you guys."
As Sakura, Syaoran, and Meiling headed down the Statue of Liberty, Sakura couldn't help wonder about Jun's story and what her main mission was…
Preview:
Spinner: I'm not surprised Tomoyo learned Jun's identity. She has always been very insightful…perceptive…
Momo: That she has, darling. If I didn't know any better, I would think she has magic herself.
Kero: Nope! Tomoyo's just great! Goes to show you don't need magic to be great and do great things!
Spinner: It's a good thing she's on our side. Looks like Jun is on a mission: one that will take Sakura and all her allies to complete.
Kero: She's trying to prevent something, right?
Momo: Right.
Spinner: Tune in next week. We'll learn what that is.
Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo and Meiling listen to Jun's story, and what they hear and see helps them grasp the magnitude of her mission.
Sakura allows everyone to weigh in on the decision, including Kero and Yue, before she decides whether Jun's mission is something she herself, and everyone she cares about, can handle…
Next Time: Sakura and the Land Without Magic