Author's Note: Sorry for being so late to update. This is the revision of the former Chapter Six part two and three. My excuse for being tardy in updating is all because of school. If you need to tell me something (for any reason, though I don't know why you would need to) please do so in the form of a review. Thank you for understanding!
A Riot of Surprise
Chapter 6: Blizzard Magic
While Sakura's day at school continued on without anymore strange occurrences, the temperature continued to lower until the windows in Sakura's room started frosting at the edges. A certain orange plush toy shaped guardian pondered on the strange behavior of the weather as he sat on the windowsill.
Kero stared up at the heavy black clouds gathering as the cold wind continued to rise in strength. Sakura was still at school for cheerleading practices and the two college students had left early for their shift at the restaurant they worked at part time. That left Kero alone at home, seeing as Sakura's father had been staying at the university he taught at from the beginning of the week. He gave many lectures a week; his students demanding his attention for his popularity at work. He was also currently working on a new dig site, so that explained the question of why he couldn't go home. Although he was busy, he had promised that he would stop by for Sakura's birthday on Sunday.
But deep in thought about the magical auras he had been sensing recently, Sakura's father was the farthest thing from Kero's mind that day. He hadn't told Sakura yet, but he had been getting magical signals at night and even during the day once, when Sakura had been coming home from Tomoyo's mansion. All that reinforced his belief that the coming storm was magical. In fact, he was sure of it. Concerned for her safety, Kero had formulated a plan to make sure that his Card Mistress was safe. Now, all that he could do was wait. It seemed that, for once, he would be sneaking into Sakura's party, not for sweets, but to protect her.
"Be careful, Sakura…"
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It was finally here! For once, Sakura woke up early without any help from alarm clocks or Kero. The days preceding her birthday had passed quickly. She couldn't believe it, but today was her birthday! That meant that she was now officially fourteen. She wasn't sure of any special benefits that came with the age, but she was excited! She changed noisily into the clothes Tomoyo had arranged for her birthday and rushed down the stairs with her bag, not noticing the absence of a certain guardian in her excitement. The addition of a yellow shaped object smuggled in the bottom of her bag was also left unnoticed.
"Ohayo Yuki- Hoe?" Sakura was about to greet Yukito good morning, but her friend was nowhere to be seen. She then mentally scolded herself for forgetting as she remembered that Yukito's grandparents had returned home the day before, and so, Yukito was back to living at his own house.
"Kaijuu, you're up early? Excited about your birthday?" Toya came down the stairs with a yawn and headed towards the kitchen.
"Onii-chan! Can't you make it a good habit to stop insulting me, especially since it's my birthday today? I wish Yukito-san was still here. He would have put you in your place!"
"Whatever Kaijuu. Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes."
"For the last time, I am not a monster!" Sakura yelled back into the kitchen.
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"Thank you for riding the bus," the bus driver told Sakura as she got out of the bus. Walking away from the bus stop, she soon arrived at Daidouji mansion where she rang the bell and waited to be let in. Ten seconds later, she was through the front gates and admiring the beautiful lawn as she walked towards the door.
Yet, she was stopped before she could get within twenty paces of the door, because it suddenly burst open a young woman came running towards her at breakneck speed. "Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo's mother, Sonomi Daidouji, practically screamed before embracing Sakura in a warm hug.
"Hoe!"
"Tomoyo-chan, Sakura is here!" the President of Daidouji Co. announced. Sakura smiled up at her best friend's mother who had the same amethyst eyes as Tomoyo. Her slightly red, dark brown hair reached down to her neck, and she smiled kindly and warmly as they walked toward Tomoyo, who was standing by the open door.
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Inside Tomoyo's room, the two girls finished the final touches for the birthday and collapsed tiredly on the couch inside a dark room that was connected to the bedroom. Tomoyo's viewing room, as she called it had a huge plasma screen television in front of the couch, complete with a stereo system and all the accessories for that particular model made by Daidouji Co.
"Now that you're here Sakura-chan, I'll give you half of your birthday present!" Tomoyo told Sakura as she turned on the television set.
"Half?" Sakura asked as the screen turned on to show… "Hoe! That's me capturing the Fly card! Don't tell me… that this is my gift?"
"Yep, that's right Sakura-chan. Your gift is a special video of your Card Capturing days. It comes in three DVD's. The first one is the Card Captor Sakura: Clow Card Arc. Number two is the Card Captor Sakura: Sakura Cards Arc. And disc number three is… my newest footage, Card Captor Sakura the Movie: The Sealed Card!"
"I think… I need some fresh air…" murmured Sakura, slowly backing away from the overly enthusiastic Tomoyo, stumbling towards the sliding doors that opened to the balcony.
Tomoyo set the three tapes onto a desk nearby. "Keep these tapes safe, Sakura-chan! They'll be worth a lot one day!"
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked breathing in cold air out on the balcony.
"You'll see," Tomoyo replied with a sly grin and a gleam in her eye. "The second half of my gift is not yet finished, so please bear with me and wait, alright?"
Suspecting it had something to do with the videos Tomoyo had edited, Sakura couldn't help but shudder. She was luckily excused from replying when the first of the guests arrived.
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The mansion was decorated beautifully as all the guests couldn't help but note and comment. One step into the hallway from the front door and a large banner could be seen hung from the wall. After the guest ducked under it, a bright and colorful sign directed them to the left where they entered a huge room filled with birthday decorations. Bright streamers hung from wall to wall and several tables occupied the space in the center of the vast room. On each of the tables were tags with the names of the guests and a set of silverware, complete with a cup and a comfortable chair instead of the stiff backed ones.
By the start of the party, most of the guest had already arrived… except for two very important guests.
"Where's Syaoran-kun and Meiling-chan?" Sakura demanded Eriol in a private corner, who had arrived an hour before everyone else. "I don't care if you have to see into the future with your abilities as the reincarnation of Clow Reed to find out! Give me an answer!"
Sweating slightly in unease at their position, – with him backed against the wall and Sakura glaring at him – Eriol put on a fake grin and hurriedly assured the panicking girl that they would arrive soon. He calmly straightened his glasses before sighing in relief, dodging out of Sakura's way as the birthday girl demanded of her brother where the two missing guests were.
Tomoyo also sighed as Sakura and Toya started their own private argument about whether or not Syaoran was a 'Chinese gaki.' She hoped for the best, even calling Meiling on her cell phone – which she had gotten from Tomoyo for her birthday – but there was not answer, and lunch came and went with the two still late and missing.
It seemed that sighing had become contagious as Sakura couldn't help but sigh for the tenth time that morning… well, in reality, it was closer to the twenty-second time. Even though she was quite happy that it was her birthday and that all except for two of her friends showed up, she was… disappointed, to say the least.
Suddenly, Sakura's worries were interrupted by an excited yell from Naoko. "It's snowing!"
The eleven guests that had made it, the birthday girl, their host, and the servants helping with the party all crowded around the various windows and sliding glass doors within the house to peer outside at the sky. They were all quite shocked to see that she was right. It was snowing… in the middle of Spring! The snow brought Sakura a memory of the day in the courtyard when Reizan and Yamazaki were making up lies about the sudden drop in temperature.
Snow...could that story of the blizzard be true?
"Sakura-san?"
"Hoe?" Sakura nearly jumped as Reizan seemingly came out of nowhere to stand behind her. "S-Sorry, you surprised me Reizan-kun."
Reizan chuckled at her expression and replied, "Don't be sorry. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that, so I should be the one saying that I'm sorry," he paused before he added, "Sorry."
"Not at all!" Sakura exclaimed, "I should have been paying more attention. Lately I've just been getting more and more spaced out…" Her mind started spinning again but the thoughts were scattered when Reizan suddenly laughed.
"Haha… I'm sorry, it's just that we always seem to be blaming ourselves and apologizing every time something relatively trivial happens. How alike we are in that sense: apologizing airheads… at least I am."
There was a moment of awkward silence before they both started laughing. The clock rang three times to signal the time. The two, smiling, returned to the main room where most of the guests were watching the news.
"And now here's our weather forecast. It seems a blizzard is brewing tonight, but meteorologist are all confused as to where it came from. Seemingly forming out of nowhere, flights all over Tomoeda are being delayed and there is already a layer of snow a foot deep."
Everyone looked outside worriedly at the snow. They had been planning on playing some sports outside earlier that day… but it had started snowing. Now, Sakura was even more worried, but also felt relieved that Syaoran and Meiling had an excuse for being over four hours late. Without anything to do, the group cast a vote to decide what they were going to do to pass the time. A moment after the votes had been counted, the doorbell rang.
Running to the front of the mansion, Sakura, hoping that it signaled the arrival of her two missing guests, and Tomoyo, acting like a good host should, were the first to greet two late, soaked and shivering guests standing at the front door. They were quickly ushered in where a fire had been started in the fireplace after the snow had first started falling. Sakura embraced Syaoran and wouldn't let go, murmuring things like how she was worried, how much she had missed him, and how he was an idiot. Syaoran hugged her back, comforting her and the two were lost in a separate dimension from the others inhabiting the room.
They realized that they were in front of everyone else, only when an extremely annoyed older brother of one Sakura cleared his throat and started glaring at his eternal enemy: Syaoran. The two blushed when they realized everyone was watching with varying degrees of amusement… Everyone had smiles except for Toya, who of course, was still glaring the words 'die' and 'get away from my sister' at Syaoran, who, in return, pointedly ignored him, purposely tightening his grip around Sakura.
After introductions for Reizan's benefit were made, Tomoyo had a 'special' announcement to make. "May I have your attention please?" Satisfied that everyone was looking at her, she continued, "Today is Sakura's 14th birthday so why don't we start with a round of the infamous song which every birthday includes?"
Laughing, everyone sang Happy Birthday to Sakura who squirmed uneasily, blushing under her star covered birthday hat. Then, everyone separated to talk and the group formed up to play Truth or Dare, which was the winner of the almost unanimous votes.
"Come on, let's go Syaoran-kun," Sakura urged, dragging a reluctant amber eyed boy with chocolate colored hair.
"S-Sakura, you're practically dragging me!" Syaoran called, trying to slip out of Sakura's iron grip hold.
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Syaoran Li
Age: 14 (Turned 14 on July 13th)
Grade: 8th Grade at Hua Long Private School ('Fire Dragon' Private School)
Physical characteristics: Messy chocolate hair / Amber eyes
Eligibility: Taken
Love Interests: Sakura Kinomoto
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"That's the point Syao-kun," she replied as Tomoyo filmed, Reizan and Eriol smiled, and Meiling giggled.
"Come on Meiling, you're not getting out of this," Syaoran called to his cousin.
"But I don't feel like…" About to protest, Meiling was silenced with a glare from Syaoran. "Hai, Hai," she murmured resignedly with a sigh.
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Meiling Li
Age: 14 (Turned 14 on March 25th)
Grade: 8th Grade at Hua Long Private School ('Fire Dragon' Private School)
Physical characteristics: Long black hair in pigtails / Amber eyes
Eligibility: Single
Love Interests: None
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Tomoyo then turned to Reizan and Eriol, the only two left and nodded to Eriol with a sinister gleam in her eyes. With a similar sinister gleam in his eyes, Eriol turned to Reizan and said, "Come on Saitakou-kun, newcomers don't get a choice in choosing to play or not."
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Eriol Hiiragizawa (A.K.A. the Full Reincarnation of Clow Reed) (In this fic, everything is taken from the anime version of CCS.)
Age: 14 (Turned 14 on March 23rd)
Grade: 'Graduated' (Not attending school because the memories and books gained from Clow Reed are more than enough for him to teach himself.)
Physical characteristics: Short black hair / Piercing sapphire eyes
Eligibility: Single
Love Interests: None
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"That's right! If you really want to fit in with us, you'll have to participate more."
"F-Fit in? Wh-What are you talking about?" Reizan asked as Eriol and Tomoyo dragged him into the room.
Everyone joined the game except for Fujitaka Kinomoto (Sakura's Father), who was talking to Kaho Mizuki (A close friend of Sakura who was once a teacher at Tomoeda Elementary School). Toya also elected to stay out of the game, but couldn't persuade Yukito to "act more mature." Sonomi had an important business deal on the phone so she couldn't join in.
"Truth or Dare, Sakura-chan?" Naoko asked as the game started. They had decided that she would start for lack of a better way to decide.
"Tr-Truth," Sakura stammered, not sure what Naoko had in mind.
A wicked grin came upon Naoko's face as she said, "Other than ghosts, what are you most afraid of?"
"That's not too bad." Sakura thought for a second, and then said "Onii-chan…"
Silence filled the room – the calm before the storm – before everyone started laughing. Toya choked on his soda which made the others laugh even more. Sakura cowered as her brother's infamous death glare landed on her. In a panic, she blurted out, "I-I meant onii-chan being serious." Everyone laughed even harder at that comment, and blushing furiously, she tried to make amends one last time, "B-but, if he stopped teasing me, I would know that there must be something wrong with him! It happened once when I was sick! Besides, it's in his nature to be annoying… isn't it…?" She trailed off and looked down sheepishly as the laughter grew uncontrollable.
"T-Toya, see wh-what I meant ab-about your bad 'habit,'" Yukito managed to say even as he laughed.
"Shut up Yuki!" Toya replied, flames in his eyes. You're going to die little sister, die I tell you, DIE! I'll drown you under insults and teasing if it's the last thing I do!
As the laughter died down, Sakura picked out the next victim of Truth or Dare. "Reizan-kun," Syaoran's ears perked up and the flames of jealousy started up as he noticed his girlfriend use Reizan's first name. "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare," he replied with a sigh. He really didn't want to play this game…
"Alright then," Sakura started, "I dare you to… to… cook okonimyaki later for lunch tomorrow!"
"Eh?" Naoko, Chiharu, and Rika exclaimed.
"What?" Sakura asked in response, rather uncomfortably.
"Is that even possible for a dare?" Meiling asked.
"Speaking of dares, during the Renaissance period in England, all the new inventions were the result of dares. In fact, the great Michelangelo's great works were mainly creations of the result of dares, his creativity earning him the title as the most famous of the Renaissance of Dares," Yamazaki lied.
"In fact, your lie just earned you an early death," Chiharu replied, strangling him with her hands yet again.
Eventually, the spotlight landed on Tomoyo and she readily picked Syaoran, "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare," he replied, relatively unconcerned with what would happen next… he should have been.
Tomoyo smiled and said, "I dare you and Sakura to go up to the library room."
"That's all?" he asked, and inkling of suspicion beginning to form."
"That's all," Tomoyo repeated, "But I would be lying if I said there wasn't a catch."
Eriol grinned to himself. Over the past few years, after the four had met, Eriol had gotten to know Tomoyo a bit better and had been surprised by what he had seen. Through Sakura's invites to various occasions, he had seen more than one side of Tomoyo, due to the fact that Tomoyo insisted that Sakura and Syaoran have their… moments together which she would proceed to film, sometimes dragging him with her for no better reason than to have an excuse if she was found out. The activities mentioned included camping trips, skiing trips, and amusement parks; all during the summer of course. Once, they even planned and executed a surprise trip to England, where the three of them expected him to give them the grand tour of London and free lodging at his house. That one was quite a headache with noise coming from Kero even during the night. He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep until Sakura locked Kero inside of a cupboard so they could shut out his hyperactivity from eating too many sweets, though he denied that he was acting too hyper with an insane giggle.
He looked back up to see what his friend's reactions would be to the dare to find them gone, presumably up the stairs, but it was not to be. "Hiiragizawa-san, help me drag Syaoran up the stairs! He should have known something like this would happen if he chose dare!"
There she goes again, Eriol thought, referring to the almost maniacal Tomoyo who was rounding up the help of… everyone available (Chiharu, Yamazaki, Rika, Naoko, Meiling, and herself), to capture Syaoran who had wisely chosen to run once Tomoyo mentioned a catch. The reason Eriol hadn't spotted Sakura at first, who was arguing with her brother again, was because of the whirl of movement around him, as people struggled to catch Syaoran who was using the tables and couches spread across the room to his advantage. Eriol sighed and got up to help, though he was sure they didn't need it. Six people on one is really more than enough… isn't it? Make that seven, Eriol thought resignedly to himself as he joined the chase.
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Once inside the Library, Sakura and Syaoran immediately found that they were locked in from the outside. They looked around and found the room filled with books lining three walls. The remaining wall was actually a huge glass door that opened onto a large balcony. Above, the ceiling seemed far, far away and the bookshelves reached all the way to the top. After checking and finding out that it was also locked, they turned around and noticed a piece of paper on the lone wood table in the middle of the large room. It read:
If you are reading this, that means that the stopwatch has started and you have 5 minutes to find one book in this unorganized library. If you don't, you will be locked in this room until the others and I deem to release you. Hidden cameras have been installed in this room so don't plan on doing anything crazy. To finish this challenge, find the book and hold it up so that we can see the title clearly. Remember, we're watching you. With regards, - Tomoyo Daidouji
P.S. The book is titled, Pro Tips for Filming and Editing Videos.
Sakura and Syaoran looked warily around for the hidden cameras to no avail. They managed to sigh at the same time and started their search resignedly. How they would find that one book out of the millions along the walls, they didn't know. Why bother, one might ask, since the two enjoyed each other's limited company so very much, though they rarely openly showed it. The answer was, even though they didn't mind being together, they didn't feel like being filmed for hours nonstop, which would be exactly what Tomoyo would do. And so, they headed for the books and looked them over. Unfortunately, before they could even reach the shelves, the glass door to the balcony shattered bringing a cold wind and snow swirling into the room. Downstairs, the feed from the hidden cameras unexpectedly stopped and the only things the ones eagerly looking could see was static.
A few seconds after the screens were blinded by static, the power shut off. The house plummeted into darkness. A few screams filled the silence, but their owners quickly calmed down. Meeting each other's eyes in the dark, Tomoyo and Eriol nodded toe each other and slipped away from the group, running upstairs towards the Library. Moments after their departure, another shadow detached itself from the group and followed them a fair distance behind. No one noticed the three's departure a moment later when some of the servants lit candles in the room for some light.
Back in the library room, Sakura and Syaoran faced the gale force winds that suddenly blasted into them and the books behind, ripping the heavy objects from the shelves towards them and scattering ripped pages on the floor. Snow from the blizzard piled in quickly and Sakura and Syaoran could do nothing, believing that their secret would be found out if they used magic. But if they didn't hurry, they would be buried alive in the room.
"Sakura! Come over here!" Syaoran yelled to Sakura who was halfway across the room. They struggled through the growing snow that reached their knees and managed to reach each other. They then heard a banging from the door and they heard Tomoyo's voice, "Are you guys alright in there? We have no idea what's going on and the door is locked so please hang in there! We can't hear you either! The power's down!"
"Did you hear that?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura nodded and added, "They can't hear or see us, so that means we can use our magic!" Syaoran nodded and Sakura pulled out the key necklace that she wore every single day. It had a star in the center surrounded by a circle. As she held it out in front of her, a glowing circle, that had a star in the center with a moon on one side and a sun on the other, appeared underneath her feet. "The key which hides the powers of the stars, show your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! Release!"
As she spoke the last words, the key enlarged and lengthened into the perfect fit for her hands. Then, she stopped. "A-no… I left my cards at my house. What are we going to do?" Sakura asked, starting to panic.
Syaoran looked at her sheepishly and added, "I left my sword back in Hong Kong!"
"We're doomed!" Sakura sobbed as the snow slowly rose in the room. Just then, a new voice interrupted her despair.
"Sakura!" Keroberos yelled as he flew into the room from the shattered window, and in hands was the Sakura Card Book.
"Kero-chan? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked as she caught the book in her arms.
"Never mind about that, hurry up and get out of here. Follow me outside!"
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"Hiiragizawa-kun, what's happening?" Tomoyo asked, looking uncomfortably at the snow covered window at the end of the hallway.
"Magic," he replied noncommittally.
"Can't you do something to help them?" Tomoyo asked, concerned for the welfare of her two friends.
"I would if someone wasn't coming up the stairs right now," he replied, and to his words, Reizan appeared, apparently very concerned.
"Are they alright?" he asked.
Eriol thought of his sudden appearance as very convenient to whoever had sent the storm and broken the glass (for he had already known that the snow bringing clouds were magic), but he couldn't be suspicious of anyone just because they stopped him from using his magic. So, he turned to Reizan and answered, "They should be, the door is jammed and we can't get inside." Reizan nodded, though unconvinced. Tomoyo tried to distract him from the corridor, but he said he would wait there with them and see if he couldn't help them get into the library. Eriol shrugged to Tomoyo and more seriously murmured to himself, "It's up to you to figure this out yourself, Sakura."
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Sakura gaped at her Guardian, but shook off her shock as another cold gust of wind swept snow into her face. "A-Alright," she yelled at the retreating plush toy. Whipping out a card from the Book of Cards and throwing it in front of her, she brought her wand down onto the card and yelled out, "Float!" And with that, Sakura and Syaoran were enveloped in a pink bubble and floated until their feet were securely resting on the top of the snow that had been threatening to reach their chests a moment later. Soon, the snow had risen so much that they were dangerously nearing the ceiling. Afraid of being crushed they ran out of the room, still supported by The Float's magic, outside to find the world covered in snow. Nothing but snow could be seen. The blizzard had poured out so much snow that only the tops of the highest buildings showed, like the school's bell tower and Daidouji mansion's roof.
"Over here," a new figure yelled out. Yellow dilated eyes peered at them from a lion's face with a ruby adorning its forehead. What could pass for a mane looked like a headpiece of sorts and a similar designed chest plate had also been inset with another ruby; though of course, of greater size. The lion-like creature had large white wings that nicely added to and finished its mythological look.
"Hoe! Ke-Kero-chan?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise. She had never been able to comprehend how a tiny figure like her gluttonous but relatively cute Kero-chan could turn into a serious looking, large lion.
The beast snorted and replied, as if reading her mind, "Of course it's me Sakura. Get used to my true form by now!"
"Sorry," she replied but was cut off by Syaoran.
"Stop wasting time, we need to find a way to stop this blizzard and melt the snow."
"That's going to be a problem," Keroberos stated with and indignantly glare as he stared into the clouds. "This blizzard was created by magic and the only way to stop it is to beat it with magic more powerful than its creator, but I'm afraid that is nearly impossible considering…"
"Considering what?" Syaoran all but yelled.
"Considering that this anonymous sorcerer has the power to interrupt the power of The Dream."
"What?" both young magicians yelled at the same time, "How is that possible and how do you know?"
"Don't ask me; I have no idea how it is possible, but - Wait, it's coming!"
And with those words, the wind force increased and threatened to blow away Sakura and Syaoran, even though they were being carried by The Float. Realizing that they needed to do something, Sakura whipped out another card and chanted, "Melt the layers of ice to reveal the warmth of life beneath, Fiery!" Out of the card came a torrent of fire and out of it appeared an arrogant looking boy with wings of fire. With a snap of its fiery wings, flames spread from his raised palms in all directions. The snow seemed to melt a little and even the clouds seemed to cower from this show of power, but all of a sudden, the flames were snuffed out by sleet and violent winds that buffeted the group. Gale force winds once again attacked, and with its overwhelming power, sent The Fiery straight into the ground. The area of snow in which it hit evaporated in steam but quickly refroze, trapping the flaming boy. Reluctantly and with a feeling akin to panic, Sakura tried to call back the card... but it was trapped and couldn't escape the ice holding it down, even with magic. Concernedly, she struggled against the wind to reach the card.
"See what I meant? She doesn't have to power at her currently level, but…" Keroberos trailed off, muttering to himself.
Syaoran watched Sakura's struggles with concern, struggling himself to reach her, but blades of ice had decided to fly their way. He was too busy evading the shards to reach Sakura. Instead, he decided to comment to Keroberos, "Are you so sure that it is impossible? I thought you were one to protect his master no matter what. Don't think, do. If there's nothing you can do, find something else! Besides, if it really was hopeless, we wouldn't be here right now. Fiery has the power, we just have to do something about the wind!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he reached into his pocket, taking out a paper with Chinese letters written on it. He had not been lying when he said he hadn't brought the magical sword that was the passed down to the heirs of the Li Clan in each generation, but that didn't mean he come completely unprepared. But Keroberos refused to see hope, still intent on thoughts that he didn't think to share with his Mistress's friend.
"Ofuda won't work without your sword, boy," Keroberos commented dryly to Syaoran.
"Then let me show you that my training for the past two years has not gone to waste!" Syaoran shot back as he chanted, "Emperor of Fire, Eastern Tower of Strength, Core of Magma, Unleash the raging flames of your domain and lay waste to thy enemy! God of Fire, Answer My Call! Flames; Descend!"
Near the end of his incantation, Syaoran threw the slip of paper high into the air, and at his final words, the ofuda glowed bright red and burned up, its ashes unnoticed in the phenomenon that followed. The clouds burst open and were scattered as a pillar of fire descended from the sky and quickly melted the snow in a circle around them, guarding them momentarily from the icy blizzard and powerful wind. Keroberos looked at him with a calculating gaze, partly to hide the awe that managed not to show on his face. He had known that he had been training his magic as a requirement from the Li Clan, yet he had not known that he had improved so much since he had last seen him. The enormous increase in magical power he saw in Syaoran was almost impossible in this present day and age. Where had he found the motivation to train for so long, or even find an acceptable training partner for that matter?
Using this moment of respite, Syaoran raced over to Sakura, who had reached the still trapped, but struggling Fiery. "Hurry Sakura; use Fiery to beat back this blizzard!" he told her.
"But, it didn't work!" Sakura replied dejectedly, "I know everyone is depending on me, but…"
"Don't worry! I know you can do it. This is nothing compared to that one time when that annoying Hiiragizawa trapped you at the school with all those snowmen throwing snowballs at you? You got out of that one easily. What about when you captured The Snow with Fiery? Believe in yourself, because you can beat this overgrown wind, and remember; I, and Daidouji and even Hiiragizawa, believe in you!"
Sakura murmured to herself, "I'll definitely be alright." Then, she nodded to Syaoran and whispered, "Thank you." She turned her attention to The Fiery, and silently asked, Lend me your power so that I may save my friends and drive back this new enemy! "Flames filled with power, gather your energy and unleash your wrath against the ice which binds you down. Release the power locked within and burn with the sun's might! Fiery!" Pouring in all of her strength she sent her magical energy towards the trapped card.
With the power of its master, the area around the flaming boy grew stifling with the heat and its body started glowing with a white hot intensity. The light was so bright that Sakura and the others had to cover their eyes with their hands (wings for Keroberos). When they looked again, they had to squint to peer through the light, and what they saw made them gasp in awe. Where there had once been the form of boy with burning orange wings, a tall man stood passively holding a long staff made of fire. With the staff was as long as he was tall, around seven feet in length, and ended in a circle at very top, with twelve points along the outside edge like a sun. The bottom of the staff sported a ruby at the bottom. A red sphere floated in between the two ends made by the sun-circle at top end.
Aside from the impressive long red robes this new being was clothed in, it also had wings sprouted from its back, but these wings were much larger than Fiery's original wings, and each wingspan doubled the length of Sakura's wand. With a confident grin to Sakura, the man raised the staff and brought it back down into the snow. Fire exploded from its topmost tip into the clouds and red cracks formed in the snow, melting wide swaths through the white sheet covering the town. In a matter of seconds, it had melted everything away and Tomoeda was once again exposed to the, now calm, sky.
As the clouds disappeared to reveal a gleaming full moon, the tall man was enveloped in another flash of searing, bright white light. From the light, a card drifted towards its exhausted master. Glancing over The Fiery and realizing that nothing had changed, Sakura sighed and collapsed fast asleep. She fortunately landed onto Syaoran who looked at her in his arms with a light blush and a mixture of wonder and awe. Something they overlooked, however, was that with the magic drained out of her, Sakura's command of the Float card collapsed and the pink bubble disappeared. As they started to fall to the ground, Keroberos managed to catch them before they crashed from with force from the acceleration gained from falling twenty feet to the ground. As they flew back down behind a tree to hide themselves from view, something gleamed in the sky before a golden object fell towards the trio and landed softly in the sleeping girl's hand.
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The birthday party ended a bit early due to the unexpected events that happened. The story that was told was that Sakura and Syaoran managed to climb down from the balcony of the Library though the guests knew that the snow had been twenty feet high at the time. No one contradicted their story however, because when they started to leave, there were no traces of snow on the ground. With varying degrees of confusion, the guests piled out the door. Sakura was taken back to her house by Toya and her father while Syaoran, Meiling, and Eriol tagged along. After leaving Sakura gently in her bed, they sat worriedly in the living room while Syaoran and Keroberos told the story. Next door, a strange thing was happening…
"Master," a voice said in the darkness of a living room with the light of the moon spilling from two open windows. "Master," the voice said again; not a question, but rather a statement. The voice continued with the permission given from an unseen signal. "They have managed to live past the first test. Though pitiful in the beginning, they survived with a brilliant display of power.
A moment of silence passed before a voice responded, "Since they have so easily passed this first test of their skills, bring them a message from me tomorrow."
"I understand, Master. I shall meet them tomorrow."
"See to it my Messenger," the voice confirmed. "Meanwhile, let's start the preparations for the next test."
"Then I take my leave," the Messenger replied. A soft crack followed the words and the temperature dropped sharply, coldness seeping into the room. In a half-joking, half-serious tone, the voice added in a whisper as its owner left, "Good luck, O Heartless Condemner…"
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Japanese Translations
Ohayo – Good Morning
Kaijuu – Monster
Onii-chan – Older Brother
Gaki – Brat; Derogatory term for a kid
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Ending Note: What you need to know is that, from this point on, much of the story is going to change (adding smaller side plots in) but I'm mainly going to just edit out typos and some of the contradicting parts of the major chapters, which are most likely those with two or three parts. There will be no more parts one twos, or threes for multiple sectioned chapters, unless the chapter is exceedingly long for my standards. AND once again, thank you for understanding.