Author's Note: First off, I must say that this story isn't my best piece of work, and not my prominent one that I'm writing at the moment. Check out my profile and check out my other story, if you want. It's the one I'm more focused on write now...
I'm apologizing in advance for any mistakes in spelling or grammar or whatever. This chapter is unedited, because I don't really feel like reading through the whole thing after already going through and converting everything to this format and such.(complicated, and I don't feel like explained XD)
In case I didn't mention it before, I'll say that if there's speech in italics, it's spoken in English. The rest is Japanese. Just to get that straight :)
For any of you actually interested in this fic (it's definitely not as popular as my other one) I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: CLAMP owns Cardcaptor Sakura and their characters. Oh, but I own the OCs...nothing really else though ^^
At lunch, I stepped out of the classroom. Jett was leaning against the wall, waiting. When he saw me, he straightened.
"So? Are they there?" he asked, facing me.
"Yes. There's also a teacher who uses moon magic. She's definitely got a powerful magic presence. I'm not sure if Syaoran-kun or Sakura-san notice it," I said, glancing into the class.
"Does Li-kun know who you are?" he asked, starting to walk with me down the hall to the cafeteria. We were planning on going outside to eat, but with this sudden snow, that wasn't exactly an option.
"I don't think he does, but he will soon enough. You know...this snow...in Canada it's not so very out of place to be having snowstorms this late, but here in Japan...it's already April. Cherry blossoms were blooming this morning. They were so pretty. I don't think this is just some freak of weather. It's-"
"Shush, Meryl. This isn't the place to be discussing that," Jett interrupted, hissing at me as groups of students passed on their way to the cafeteria.
I looked around and nodded.
"Then...I suppose we'll just live with it for now," I said, nodding.
"You should get together with the Cardcaptor as soon as possible," he said, looking over at where Sakura sat with her group of friends.
"Yes. That would be best."
After school, Sakura was preparing to leave with her friends, Daidoji Tomoyo, Li Syaoran, and Li Meiling. The others had all left.
I walked up to them. "We didn't properly introduce ourselves, did we?" I said, peering at them.
"Ah, no. I'm Kinomoto Sakura. Nice to meet you. Does it snow like this in Canada?" she asked, glancing out the window.
I sighed. "Yes, it does, but not through summer. It is usually just starting to leave around this time. But for Japan...this isn't just the weather," I said, staring at the ground. I knew it would be okay to tell them here, because we were alone in the classroom, but I was uneasy about it.
"Yes, I read that somewhere. I'm Daidoji Tomoyo, Sakura-chan's friend," Tomoyo said, greeting me with a warm smile. I smiled back.
"Nice to meet you."
I turned to Syaoran and Meiling. "Our parents might be surprised that we're meeting before we're teenagers, don't you think, Syaoran?"
He raised an eyebrow, obviously not realizing who I was.
"Who do you think you are, calling him by just 'Syaoran', as if it's normal!?" Meiling cried, clinging onto Syaoran's arm.
I smiled at her apologetically. "Sorry. In Canada, it is normal," I said, scratching the back of my head. She let go of Syaoran's arm, looking a bit apologetic. I inwardly hit myself. I should have just told them.
"You're Li Meiling, Syao-I mean, Li-kun's cousin, right?" I said, turning to her.
"Yeah," she replied, nodding.
"And well, Mizuki-sensei already said your name earlier, Li Syaoran," I said, nodding to him. I spun around, my face showing tiredness and exasperation at myself. I'd hd so many perfect opportunities to tell them, but I hadn't. I suppose I'd wait till later.
"Are you going home, Reed-san?" Sakura asked as I began walking towards the door.
"Yeah. I have somebody waiting for me. He'll be worried if I'm late. I'd better get-"
"Meryl Iah Lunaryka Reed! What are you doing!?"
I froze, slowly looking up at the door to Jett.
"H-hi Jett. What's the matter? I'm not that late!" I said, walking over.
"Well, what if you'd gotten stuck out in the snow? What if you were freezing to death!? What if-"
"Jett! I'm fine. I was just talking to some new friends!"
Jett looked over my shoulder at the four stand dumbstruck behind me. He blushed slightly in embarrassment, then sighed.
"Excuse us. We really must get home," he said, bowing to them before grabbing my wrist and running out of the classroom.
As he pulled me down the halls towards the entrance, he glanced over at me.
"Any progress?"
I sighed. "I couldn't tell them yet," I sighed.
"Meryl," he muttered in exasperation.
"Don't worry. There'll be plenty of time for that. And besides, with this snowstorm, they're bound to do something, and when they do, I'll be there and everything will spill. So don't be mad," I said as he threw open the door, pulling me through the snow to where the car waited.
We got inside, closing the door quickly behind us. Jett's dad looked at us, a smile toying on his lips.
"So, how was your first day of school?" he asked, starting the engine.
"Fine. I made a few friends," I said, looking outside at the blinding white snow.
"Me too. It was just normal," Jett replied, glancing over at me.
"Have you met your cousins yet, Meryl?" Jacob, Jett's dad, asked me.
I glanced back inside the car. "Yes, but they don't know I'm related to them yet. Well, I suppose that only makes sense, seeing as the two descents of Clow Reed don't usually meet until they're at least thirteen. But I'm sure they'll find out soon, what with the appearance of another Clow Card," I said, glancing again out the window.
"Yes, I thought this was strange, to. So you feel the presence of a Clow Card?" Jacob said, scanning the snow around us.
"That's right."
"Well then, I guess you're right about it not taking long," he said, sighing.
"But it's better that it doesn't take a long time, right?" I said, feeling my moon necklace.
"Yes."
I sighed, looked at our feet. "I just hope everything works out."
I looked out the window at the high-piled snow. "Sakura-san and the others should be realizing this is a Clow Card about now. We should go," I said, turning back into the apartment.
"Yeah. Go get changed," Jett agreed heading into his room to change into his own traditional garments.
I changed into mine, quickly tying my long hair into the style I always did when in these clothes. It would take a normal person a long time to do, but I wasn't exactly a normal person.
When I got out, I met with Jett, and we left the apartment room.
"Where should we go?" I asked when we came out of the apartment building.
"We should fly around for a bit, feeling for where it's strongest," he said, pulling out his gun. I nodded, closing my eyes.
I held out my hand. "By the power of the moon, the sun, and the stars surrounding them, I ask that you appear! Lunar Staff!" I cried, and my magic staff appeared in my hand. I opened my eyes at the staff with a moon on one end and a smaller sun on the other. In all truth, the majority of my power came from the moon, but a moon needs the sun to shine, and I don't have anything to reflect off, so I need the sun as well.
"Wings!"
A pair of wings appeared on my staff, and I hopped on. Jett followed, and we took off into the sky. It wasn't long before we were drawn towards a certain park, and as we lowered ourselves, we noticed a group of four already there. Wait...Five, but not all of them were necessarily human.
"We'll land in the trees," I whispered to Jett, turning the staff to the safety of the trees. We landed, and both of us used our own magic to keep ourselves from slipping under the surface of the snow.
"I'm going to go as Luminara," I said, stopping. "I don't want them to know about Meryl yet," I said, pulling the staff in front of me.
Jett sighed. "Fine. I'll come, but if you're Luminara, then I'm going as myself," he said, drawing out his gun.
"That's fine with me," I said, closing my eyes and making the transformation. I opened my eyes in my true form. I glanced over at Jett, who was waiting for me, holding his gun ready. He had already changed to 'himself' as he put it.
"If they ask, we're a sorceress and guardian. No names mentioned. Okay?" I said, holding my staff in strong of me.
"Okay. Let's go," Jett agreed, running out towards the group.
I nodded, following him.
Suddenly, it began snowing again, before it began swirling into a cyclone of snow. I stopped and stared up at it. I heard the exclamations of Sakura's group, tightening my grasp on my staff.
Sakura and Syaoran ran with Sakura's 'FLOAT' card out of the center of it, but the snow tornado followed them. They came to the conclusion that it would follow the people with magical abilities, so they had to get it away from Meilin and Tomoyo.
I sighed, stepping forward.
"This will be an easy task," I murmured, when suddenly, the swirling mass of snow came towards me. Expected. I was the one with the most powerful magic here, so I posed the biggest threat.
"Fire burning eternal, counter the storm of snow and make it disappear," I chanted, holding my staff in front of me and letting the spell come out.
My fire swirled into the snow, melting the snow tornado and revealing the main body of SNOW.
"Cast FIREY over the town!" I shouted to Sakura.
"Y-yes!" she called back, her voice shaky, and she cast the Card, which proceeded to chasing SNOW and melting all the snow over the town.
"Sakura-san! Turn SNOW back into a Clow Card!" I instructed, running over to the other side of SNOW so she wouldn't escape.
"O-okay!" Sakura ran in front of SNOW and raised her wand. "Return to the guise that you were meant to be in! CLOW CARD!"
The card appeared in front of Sakura and SNOW disappeared into the card. FIREY also went back to it's card.
But the card didn't go to Sakura. It floated over into my hand.
I looked down at it, then up at Sakura.
"You're the Cardcaptor, aren't you? I don't need it. Here," I said, throwing it over to her. She caught it, a look of awe and surprise over her face, and looked up with a smile.
"Thank you very much! But...who are you?" she asked, looking up at me curiously.
I smiled at her. "I'm a sorceress who came to help you. I knew Clow Reed, and I'm sure he would appreciate my helping you. That's all you need to know about me at this point," I replied.
Syaoran frowned over at Jett. "Who's he?"
"He's kinda like a bodyguard, or a guardian of sorts. He's a sorcerer as well."
They all looked confused, but shrugged it off.
"We should leave now," Jett said, looking around at the deserted area.
"Why?" I asked, turning to him.
"You need to rest," he said, starting over to me.
"Fine, fine. You know, it's sometimes really annoying to have a guardian like this," I joked, walking off with Jett. "See you later, then!" I called to Sakura and the others. I caught a suspicious look in Syaoran's eye, but ignored it. I wouldn't question him, seeing how he has every right to be suspicious.
Jett and I are very suspicious people.
The next day, as I was leaving the apartment building with Jett, we heard a familiar pair of voices not to far in front of us.
"Li-kun? Meiling-san?"
They turned upon hearing their names and Meiling's eyes brightened.
"Ah, you're that new girl from Canada. Reed Meryl, right? Can I call you Meryl-san?" Meiling asked, waiting for Jett and I to catch up.
"Sure. I call you Meiling-san anyways," I replied, smiling at her.
I heard a cough beside me. I turned to Jett. "What's wrong, Jett?" I asked, peering curiously at him.
"Oh yeah, Meryl-san, why is this guy always with you? Even at school, when we're not in class, he's always there!" Meiling questioned, placing her arms on her hips.
I smiled gently. "He's in the Gitasu family, a family that's been watching over mine for a while."
"That's right. It's under our parents orders, so we kinda have to. Besides, Meryl-sama is more important than her parents, so I must be here to make sure nothing goes wrong," Jett explained as Syaoran walked up to the group.
"Why is she different?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.
I sighed. "Maybe I should tell you now," I said, pondering whether or not to tell them of their relation to me.
"Meryl, if you're not ready to tell them, you don't have to," Jett said, concern coming over his face.
"You're right. I'm sorry, Li-kun, Meiling-san, but this is simply how it is, and that can't be changed. There's more than one reason, and it's all very complicated, so I can't explain. Anyways...shall we head off to school?"
Syaoran and Meiling exchanged a look of puzzlement before we all started off to school again.
After that first incident with the snow, Jett and I kept a low profile. I watched everything Sakura went through, all in anticipation for when she gained all the cards. I sometimes felt the urge to step in and help, especially when Syaoran ended up with the card, but there was one time where I couldn't really do nothing, seeing as the people-or things not exactly human-involved were things that I myself, not Meryl, had to deal with.
So, when that day in winter break came with Sakura was leaving for Hong Kong, I woke Jett up early in the morning.
"We're going to go meet Syaoran's side of the family."
I decided that I wouldn't go and meet Syaoran's family just yet, nor would I show myself to Sakura and company. There would be plenty of time for that later. Instead, I watched like I had many times before as she realized the strange presences. I was actually quite worried about the woman behind all of this. But then, of course, I knew I could handle her. I was only worried about what Sakura.
When they all disappeared into a strange shop, I ran in after them, Jett following me. I ran inside and found an open book. Closing my eyes, I placed my hand over the book.
"Jett, stay here," I whispered to him as the magic began to swirl around me.
"No, wait! I have to go with you! Meryl!"
"Don't talk back to me right now, Sorin!"
He looked surprised. But that's an understatement. I almost never had to say something like that, and it quite through him off guard.
"U-understood, Luminara-sama," he replied, bowing and stepping away.
"Thank you for understanding, Jett. Or at least saying that you do," I said, smiling sadly.
"Go before something bad happens to them, Meryl."
"Will do."
I closed my eyes again and the magic continued. When I opened my eyes again, I was in the world created by the woman who'd made this book.
I ran forward towards the presence of the magic users. When I saw the recognizable woman, I sighed.
"Such a strong grudge...or lust. Clow, you really are something," I muttered, pulling out my staff. I raised it in front of me and began the spell that would take me to my other form.
"Power stored within me, show yourself!"
My skin glowed blue, and then the child form of Meryl disappeared temporarily, showing me for who I truly was.
The fortune teller hung in the air, her anger at meeting Sakura and Syaoran instead of Clow Reed showing clearly in her words and face.
I sighed. It was truly a strong feeling for him. I felt sorry for the man, even if he was now dead.
I flapped my wings, throwing myself into the air. I approached the scene, and came above where Sakura and Syaoran stood, which didn't go unnoticed by all parties present.
"Who are you and why are you here!?" the fortune-telling woman demanded, her eyes flashing in anger and frustration.
I smiled coyly at her.
"You really had a strange relationship with Clow, didn't you?" I giggled, twirling my white hair around my finger. The last time I'd been in this form was in the snow incident. I missed it a little, even if Meryl's long blond hair and fair skin wasn't exactly polar opposite.
"H-how would you know of things like that!?" the woman exclaimed, recoiling, a little of her strong facade fading in her surprise.
I chuckled at her. "I was a close friend of Clow's. But he's not here anymore. He died. So stop this. Didn't you ever learn that picking on innocent people is mean? So stop doing this before I have to make you," I said, turning my posture into an arms-crossed I'm-more-powerful-than-you-so-you'd-better-listen-to-me stance.
She glared at me. "Clow would never die! You are sorely mistaken! He wouldn't!"
I sighed in exasperation. "So you aren't going to stop this foolishness?"
"No!"
I rolled my eyes at her stubbornness, and then remembered the audience of sorts we had.
"Sakura-san, Syaoran-kun...I think you two had best be saving your friends," I said to them, motioning towards to bubbles that contained Sakura's brother, Yukito, Tomoyo, and Meiling.
"Ah! Yes! You're that woman from before, aren't you?" Sakura questioned, looking very confused as she stared up at me, nervously glancing over at the four bubbles.
I smiled softly. "I am. The close friend of Clow Reed's, but he's now dead, and that is all in the past. This is just another problem of the past that hasn't been taken care of properly. Please, don't worry about me. I'm on your side," I said, winking at her and then turning to the woman who should have been gone a long time ago.
She glared at me. "Don't think it will be an easy battle. I will not lose! I will meet Clow again! He wouldn't die!"
"I'm afraid I'll have to prove you wrong," I said sadly, swinging my staff in front of me and beginning to cast my spell.
As I wrapped the fortune-teller in a tight bind of water, her own element, she screamed in frustration.
"Who in the world are you!?" she cried, struggling to free herself.
My coy smile obviously annoyed her. "The most powerful sorceress you'll ever meet. Now, you should just accept that Clow died," I said, tossing her around a bit.
"He would never die! You have no idea about how I feel!" she shouted through all the noise of the water swirling around.
"Do you think I'm happy either? If I could, I'd go back and make sure he didn't die! But this is how things are, and you can't change that, no matter how much you loved or hated him!" I exclaimed, trying to keep my emotions in check and failing miserably. "You loved him, didn't you!? Well you aren't the only one!"
By now, my rage had erupted into a flurry of water swirling rapidly around the fortuneteller. She cried out in her fear, screaming as I was beating her in her own element.
I lost all sense of thinking, instead losing to my emotions. My eyes glowed red in my complete anger at this woman for daring to to say such foolish things.
My anger caused more damage than I first realized, whipping my hair into a frenzy. I heard the frantic calls of the frightened innocent people below.
"You! Calm down! You're going to kill yourself and everyone here!"
At that one familiar voice of the Beast of the Seal, my eyes returned to normal and the magic faded off. I stared at the woman lying on a stone platform, her breath coming in rasps.
"You loved him, didn't you?" I said as I landed on the platform in front of her.
"Yes. You really cared...for him too...right?" she wheezed, barely keeping herself up.
Tears fell silently from my eyes. I knelt next to her staring, down with gentle eyes. "Of course I did. But he's gone now, and has been for a long time. So it's time for you to do the same. You can join him in death," I said, putting my hand on her head. "May you have a peaceful death," I murmured, and she slowly began disappearing as she should have long ago.
I bent near her ear before she was completely gone. "But our loves were different. He was my brother."
She stared at me, and then her gaze lightened and she disappeared completely. I turned to Sakura and company. Sakura and Syaoran had freed everyone, but Yukito and Touya were still not conscious. I flew over to them, landing in front of the group.
"This world is inside a book created by that woman. I'm sure your friend, Kerberos, can explain everything to you when you get out," I said, motioning to the creature. "But once everyone is gone, it will disappear and become an ordinary book," I explained.
"But...how do we get back?" Sakura asked, her brother still asleep on her lap.
I smiled. "When I get out, I will take you all back...but by the time you do, I'll be gone, so this is goodbye...for now," I said, pulling out my staff and closing my eyes. I instantly disappeared out of the book.
Jett was there waiting for me. When he saw I was in my true form, he sighed.
"You did something reckless, didn't you?" he said, walking over to me.
"I suppose. But I'm Luminara Reed, and I hate to see a sad ending."
Jett sighed, and then looked up at me. "You should change back to Meryl," he pointed out.
"Yes," I said, and was instantly back in the form of the magician girl. I placed my hand over the book. "Please, let the people trapped inside the world created in this book be set free," I said softly, and the book glowed.
"Now, Jett, we have to leave," I said, spinning away from the book and running out of the shop, Jett following close behind.
We ran down the street a bit before stopping. We were a safe distance away.
"Well, I suppose everything's alright now. That was the reason Sakura is here in the first place, so everybody should just be enjoying themselves in Hong Kong now," I said, looking around the streets.
"What exactly happened, anyways?" Jett asked me, his expression curious.
"Well, there was a fortune-teller from a long time ago who had a grudge against Clow for taking her business away a long time ago. He told me all about her. She kept picking fights with him, which he, of course, won. So she took Sakura and Syaoran there, thinking they were Clow because they had Clow Cards, and planned on getting revenge on Clow. I ended up fighting her, but it wasn't much of a fight. I kinda...lost myself. You know what happens when I do that. Anyways, when Kerberos yelled at me, I snapped out of it and went down to the lady. I took her away quietly," I explained after making sure nobody could hear us.
Jett stared at me for a second before bursting out laughing.
I blushed and frowned at him. "Stop it Jett, it isn't funny! I can't help it when that happens!" I exclaimed in some meager attempt to get him to stop.
"I wish I could have been there to see it! It's like you're a completely different person!" he cried in his glee, but I slapped him, making him shut up.
"You know exactly how serious it is when that happens. Bad things can happen. I almost kill myself, not to mention the people unfortunate enough to be there! You, of all people, should know exactly how seriously dangerous it is!" I exclaimed, glad that this was China and they couldn't understand us very well when we spoke English.
He immediately dropped the giddy expression and replaced it with a solemn one. I bit my lower lip. Perhaps I'd gone a bit too far...but it was true. It had been while in one of those times where I'd lost myself to my emotions that I'd given Jett's real form a scar that magic cannot take away. And I almost killed him. The one thing that stopped me from that was-
"Hey! It's Reed Meryl-san and her friend!" It was Sakura's voice that cut off my train of thought. Jett and I turned our attention to the group that was approaching us. I put up a smile completely opposite of the mood Jett and I had just been in.
"Oh, hello there, Sakura-san, and everybody else, too. I heard about you winning the trip to Hong Kong. Congratulations," I said, smiling at her.
"Thank you. But...what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, frowning slightly in confusion.
I smiled. "That's because I have family I wanted to visit here in Hong Kong," I explained, smiling at her. "And Jett and his father came with me," I added as Jett stepped up beside me.
"When was the last time you met them?" Tomoyo asked curiously.
I blushed a little sheepishly. "Actually, the only time I've technically met them was when I was just born and the two parents of the current main family came to Canada," I replied.
"Oh! Then you must have had fun meeting them! What were they like?" Tomoyo continued, her curiosity sparking even more.
"I haven't gotten around to meeting with them yet, but I know from stories that they're a quite prestigious family. I can't wait to meet them!" I exclaimed, grinning at them.
"Oh, Li-kun, Meiling-san, you're both from here, aren't you? I heard you're part of a very rich family, like Meryl's relatives here," Jett said, turning to the two.
"Yeah, we do! Maybe after you meet your own family you could come visit us!" Meiling suggested.
I smiled at her. "Maybe."
I suddenly felt I was being watched. I opened my eyes and found the eyes of the person who'd been staring at me. When I noticed who, I gently smiled at him, which obviously took him off guard.
Once he'd regained a normal composure, I gave him a solemn stare, and nodded slowly. He stared in wonder for a moment, before nodding back. We were sending each other the same message:
I know you use magic and aren't simply human.
"Meryl! Hey, Meryl! Wake up, stupid girl!"
I snapped my head over to Jett. "What did you call me!?" I shot after realizing what he'd said. The others remained oblivious, as they couldn't keep up with our rapid English speaking.
He sighed. "You weren't listening when we were talking to you, Meryl. What's wrong with you? Do I have to-"
"No, you don't. I'm fine. I just zoned out a little."
Then we both noticed the people staring at us in complete confusion. I smiled apologetically at them. "Sorry. I'm fine...so, what were we talking about?" I asked, switching back to Japanese.
"Um...we were just thinking of heading over to an ice cream shop. Do you and Gitasu-kun want to come?" Tomoyo asked me and I smiled at her.
"Of course we would. Right, Jett? But...we'll have to leave early because we're supposed to be meeting my family soon," I replied, and we started walking towards the ice cream shop formerly mentioned by Tomoyo.
When we got there, the two teenagers, Touya and Yukito, were forced to pay for us.
After we finished eating, Sakura and her group decided to go look around at the city a little more. Jett and I headed off to meet the family. It helped that they'd be gone. That would make it easier to go meet the family. The Li family.
A/N: Well, that's it for now! Again, sorry for any mistakes.