Author's Note: Chapter Seven of my first fan fiction is now up as you can see/read. Thank you for choosing this as your reading material: enjoy.

A Riot of Surprise

Chapter 7: Messages and Explanations

I've had this dream before…

A ripple formed from a drop of water that broke the surface of what was suddenly a pond. The resulting splash triggered more ripples until the water was filled with moving waves that grew until it crashed over Sakura's view.

The scene changed as she heard a whistle from the wind that blew over the green grass of a large field. The peacefulness shattered as the wind changed from a breeze to a gale that flattened the grass and wiped clean the world from view.

A hiss of thunder found its way to Sakura's ear as the sky lighted up before a boom resounded in the air. Thunder shot down from dark foreboding clouds that hovered over the peaceful images of the pond and grass from scenes past. Bolts shot down into the ground, igniting the world into flames.

Crackles from small flames quickly grew into roars of hunger as the raging fire devoured all of its surroundings.

What is it supposed to mean…?

"The end…" a voice replied…

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At the Kinomoto's house.

Sakura sat up away from the welcoming warmth of the sheets covering her bed, looking around to see familiar yellow walls. She then looked around to see… no one. That's strange; I thought I heard a voice! Sakura thought to herself.

Just then, the door opened and her brother and father walked in followed by Syaoran, Meiling, Eriol, and Yukito.

Toya spoke first in a strangely serious voice, "Sakura, are you alright?"

"I'm not a mon- wait… 'Are you all right?'" Sakura exclaimed, "Is there something wrong?" She stared confusedly as the group shared distressed looks before turning solemnly back towards her, "What's the matter?" she asked, "Did something happen?"

"Sakura…" Meiling started hesitantly. "Do you remember anything about yesterday?"

"Yesterday…" she pondered for a moment and then slowly shook her head.

"Maybe this will remind you," Eriol said, holding up a gleaming golden triangular shaped object. She blinked once and then gasped out loud. "The magical blizzard and Fiery changed! What happened? Strangely, I can't remember much after that…"

"It's just as I thought," a cold voice murmured. Sakura looked towards where Yukito should have been standing to see a tall angelic being with long silvery hair and icy blue eyes staring at her. "The amount of magic she used was too much for her body to handle so it shut down her body to protect her mind."

"Yue-san!" Sakura exclaimed in shock.

The man with wings nodded to her and asked, "Have you seen Keroberos around, Sakura?"

She slowly shook her head, "I just woke up and I don't remember anything except after Kero-chan caught us in mid-air. Why, isn't he somewhere around here?"

"I'm afraid not," Eriol replied.

"His magical presence has disappeared too, the good for nothing…" Syaoran added but was cut off by a quick jab from Meiling's elbow. Meiling gave him a dangerous look when he was about to protest her actions and sighed at his tactlessness.

Sakura tried to reassure the others that Kero was alright and somewhere around but she trailed off when she spotted something on the desk. "A letter!" she exclaimed, startling the others until they too saw the folded paper on the table. Sakura looked over the letter quickly before silently passing the letter over to Syaoran who read aloud…

"Sakura,"

"If you are reading this then that means that I either haven't returned from my task or that something has happened to me. Now don't be rash and read very carefully what comes next. First, make sure everyone else understands this: do not, under any circumstance, try to find me. Protect the Sakura Cards in case they are the enemies' true target and stay alert. If this magical force is truly dangerous it will probably attack your source of power: your cards. Don't worry about me; I'll probably finish my task or find a way to escape trouble soon enough. I'll be expecting two cakes as payment! Until we meet again."

It was signed, Keroberos.

The group fell in silence, absorbing the words from the letter. Eriol spoke up first, "I think we should listen to what Keroberos-" and was rudely interrupted by the shattering of the window. Sakura screamed in shock and was pulled to the side by Syaoran before shards of glass impaled the spot where she had been standing a second before. Sakura raised her head from Syaoran's chest and breathed a sigh of relief; the others were all safe.

"Is everyone alright?" Yue asked dropping the barrier he had raised to protect the three non-magic mortals behind him. Everyone nodded to his question but they were still too shocked to speak.

Then, Sakura spotted a sapphire gem on the ground and picked up, wincing as a rather sharp edge cut her finger. A single drop of blood fell onto the smooth surface of the gem which immediately triggered a reaction. As the blood hit the gem it produced a bright blue luminous glow that filled the room and the sapphire split open and dissolved into fine blue dust in Sakura's hand. An unnatural wind filled the room and blew the remains of the gem into the air and out the broken window leaving a letter in her hand. "What's this?"

With Syaoran peering over her shoulder and the six others in the room uneasily listening she read the second letter she had received that day…

"To the Card Mistress of the Cards,"

"I trust that my message has arrived at the right place and that you are now reading this. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Card Mistress, and I hope you have not been embittered by the test I arranged for you on April 1st. I am aware that you are now fourteen years of age and that this year is your last at Tomoeda Junior High. Now, I formally dispense of all pleasantries to inform you that you will not be able to enjoy your last year of Junior High in peace. Unfortunately, magicians can not waste time in dealing with others of the same kind who are not aware of their position in society. This is your explanation and warning.

"I am the Condemner assigned to test you, Sakura Kinomoto, Master of the Cards, Wielder of the Stars, and whose Guardians are Keroberos the Sun and Yue the Moon. You have probably already figured this out: you are not the only magician in this world. It is true that you are the only existing Card Mistress but certainly not the only magician. Now before I give away more than I need to, I'll tell you this; prove to me your strength is sufficient enough for you to do as you like and I shall leave you alone, but if you fail the test… then your memories of magic and your powers will be easily stripped away from you, even with the blessing of Clow Reed imparted upon you.

Your first test will be soon. Seeing as how the Guardian of the Sun is currently indisposed right now, the next test shall concern only you and the Guardian of the Moon. Until we meet again…

"And please, don't think too harshly of me."

"There's no signature," Sakura added impassively. Her voice and face a mask that showed no emotion but she was raging internally. How dare this… Condemner, threaten me like this?

"A magician's society…" Syaoran murmured. Sakura looked up from the letter and saw a hint of a smirk forming on Syaoran's face, "Who needs that? It's not like anything has happened lately that we would even need such a thing."

"And that's where you're wrong," Eriol contradicted. "There have been happenings that you, at your level of power, haven't been able to notice, dear Syaoran."

Syaoran glared at him and asked, "What happenings haven't I been able to notice, Hiiragizawa?"

"Calm down, Syaoran," Meiling interrupted the beginnings of a fight. "Now's not the time for this. What we should be doing is trying to understand all of what's going on."

"She has a point, gaki," Toya spoke up.

Syaoran switched his glare from Eriol, to Meiling, to Toya and opened his mouth to shoot back a retort but the touch of a hand on his shoulder made him stop. "Syaoran…" Sakura said. Outnumbered four to one, all Syaoran could do was sigh and plop down on the bed earning a scowl form Sakura.

"I'll leave you kids to your discussion then," Fujitaka said and headed towards the door. Before he left however, he said, "Sakura, you know that whatever happens I'll be here for you, right?" Then, he left at Sakura's beaming smile.

The room was quiet in an uncomfortable silence following Fujitaka's departure, that is, until Sakura asked a question that had also been on her brother's mind, "Syaoran-kun, Meiling-chan, why are you still here? Won't you miss your flight?"

Meiling shuffled uncomfortably in her dirty clothes and said, "The thing is, we already missed it. We were supposed to go back to Japan yesterday evening because we had school today."

"But don't worry," Syaoran added. "We already called home and Mother gave us permission to stay here."

"Stay here? So that means you're not going back to Hong Kong?"

"That's right! As an ally of the Li clan, we are obligated to protect you and are responsible for your safety!" Meiling chirped.

"But you really shouldn't have forced Mother to let you stay," Syaoran murmured but quickly became sullenly quite when Meiling elbowed him in the stomach and stomped on his foot.

"Since when have I been an ally of the Li clan?" Sakura pondered, settling herself on her bed next to Syaoran who was quietly holding in a cry of pain.

"Since Syaoran came back to Hong Kong after you sealed the Nothing and Auntie forced the Elders to approve of you," Meiling replied with a subtle hint that everyone in the room caught.

Syaoran and Sakura blushed as one and at the same time Toya erupted in anger, "That's it, get away from my sister, Gaki. I've said it now and I'll say it again; I don't approve of this brat! I don't care who says what; you two are not going to be dating if I have any say in it!"

"Well that's nice, isn't it?" Sakura shot back, "You don't have a say in it and I don't need your permission, so you really can't complain, can you?"

Toya was silent in anger for a moment before he decided to change his strategy, "If it doesn't matter what I say then so be it. But I'll ask you this; has Gaki here sent you any letters recently?"

"Now, now Toya," Yukito interrupted, shocking Sakura (Hoe!) to end with his sudden transformation. "Didn't you shred the last two letters that arrived in the mail for Sakura-chan from Li-kun?" Yukito inquired. "Don't lie to get yourself off the hook."

"What?" Syaoran and Sakura yelled at the same time. "So that's why Sakura seemed mad in the reply she sent me!" Syaoran, "So that's why I didn't get a letter?" and Sakura practically screamed.

Toya, feeling the danger switched to the role of overprotective brother and sputtered, "Sakura, I'm doing this to protect you!"

Syaoran sent a death glare at Toya as Sakura continued the argument, "I don't need your protection! I have Syaoran-kun." She smiled sweetly at Syaoran. A moment later, Toya met face to face with death as Sakura glared him down, "Besides, I don't need protection from him; I need protection from overprotective brothers who don't know what's good for them."

A vein popped in Toya's head as he glared at them all, mumbling how unfair it was that everyone plotted against him earning chuckles from Meiling and smiles form Eriol and Yukito. He was about to walk out the door when a voice commented from the doorway, "Kinomoto-san, life is unfair as you should know by now." And in came Tomoyo in her school uniform with what but a camera in her hand. "Now please stop yelling at Sakura or else I will have to resort to using this kawaii footage of your loss in this argument as blackmail."

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura cried out.

"Good afternoon Sakura-chan, and don't worry about school. I told them you had a cold and couldn't come to school today."

"Arigato, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura exclaimed with a big smile. Toya left soon after saying something about finishing up homework and dragged Yukito after him.

Eriol silently and amusedly watched the whole scene without comment. When the others went downstairs for some refreshment, he stayed behind in Sakura's room and picked up the golden object lying on her table. His eye's narrowed as he stared at the double-pointed jigsaw shaped object and muttered, "And so it begins…"

A few hours later, dinner was served. They had managed to avoid the uncomfortable subject that had been conquered by light hearted laughter but it was still the one thing they couldn't get out of their mind. Tomoyo had gasped but then comforted Sakura when she had heard of the letter and Kero's disappearance. "Don't worry; Sakura-chan. Kero-chan will be fine; he'll probably finish whatever he's doing quickly and come back in a few days. When he gets back, call me and I'll make the two cakes that were promised." Sakura only smiled and stared at the stairs that led up to her room.

After dinner, Tomoyo said that her mother must be worried so she had to leave. Syaoran and Meilin also left, mentioning that they had to pick up their butler, Wei, who would be arriving on the next flight. They also said something about an apartment in Tomoeda but Sakura was too preoccupied to totally understand what it meant. Finally, that left Toya, Yukito, and Eriol after they cleaned all the dishes. Sakura's father excused himself and went to his room to finish up the lecture he was presenting the next day. Just because he knew about the events that were happening and also worried didn't mean that he didn't have a job to do.

"Yue, please show yourself again," Eriol said in a strangely calm, cold, and calculating voice.

Yukito's eyes closed and wings sprouted from his back, enveloping his whole body. The white 'shell' of sorts floated in the air as a magical circle appeared underneath the floating object. When the wings opened once again, there stood Yue.

"Sakura, I know you are tired and that it is growing late, but I have something I need to speak to you and Yue about." He then looked at Toya with unreadable sapphire eyes. "I'm sorry Kinomoto-san, will you please excuse us?"

Toya, in a strangely calm and cooperative mood merely nodded and went upstairs to his room. When Eriol heard the door close, he continued, "Sakura, Yue, you remember everything that was relayed to us by the letter, correct?" He waited for them to nod, then said, "Then you'll remember that the next test involves only the two of you: the Card Mistress and the Guardian of the Moon. That means that he or she, whoever this magician is, will be targeting both of you, so be on guard and stay close together. For now, let's assume this magician is male for the sake of conversation.

"Also, you must know that this magician is no idle threat. He has good information; he knows where you are at all times of the day as you are only home or at school on normal days. Also, he knows about Keroberos's disappearance, though that could be either because he has done something to him or just has a reliable source of information. Finally, what is most dangerous about him is that we know close to nothing about this magician; all we really do know is that he has enormous power as he proved to us yesterday and that brings us to our next topic. The Fiery; Keroberos and Li-kun told us about yesterday's incident before the Guardian's disappearance including the Fiery's transformation. Do you remember anything special that you did that might be a reason for its transformation, Sakura?"

Sakura hesitated, before saying, "I asked Fiery to lend me its powers and to keep you guys safe. After that, I felt suddenly tired, as if something was being drained out of me… I think that was my magic."

"That's correct, and because of the amount of magic used, your body shut down to protect your exhausted mind. Also, because of the large amount of magic you possess from prior events, the card tried to accommodate all the extra energy and thus, transformed. But, there is one thing I am not sure of." Eriol then took out the golden object he had taken from Sakura's desk. "Do you remember this Sakura?"

Sakura looked at the object in front of her. It was triangular in size, with two points, completely golden, and looked as if it came from a puzzle. "I think I remember it appearing with Fiery's card form and that it fell into my hands just before I collapsed."

Eriol nodded, "What do you think of it?"

She closed her eyes, extended her magical sense, and thought for a moment before replying. "I feel a magical aura around it that feels sort of like a great light filled with heat and fire… like the sun!" she exclaimed. "I remember that when I gave Fiery's new commands I mentioned that it should burn as bright as the sun, and that's when it transformed!"

Eriol's eyes narrowed in thought and he murmured, "Sakura, you surprise me sometimes."

"Wh-What do you mean? Have I done something wrong?"

"No, not at all; in fact, quite the opposite. When you gave Fiery your magic, you also lent it the power of the sun, but not only through the wording of your command, though it does make a difference, but also by calling upon the sun's power. You, Sakura, are truly worthy of being Clow Reed's successor!"

"Hoe?" Sakura was still puzzled.

"You, a magician who uses the powers of the stars managed to not only call upon the stars' energy but also that of the sun's. That act gave a huge energy boost to Fiery, who is one of the cards under Keroberos the Guardian of Sun's jurisdiction, adding to the energy gained from your already considerable amount of magic."

"But how is that possible?" Yue interrupted, finally speaking after holding his silence.

"Do you remember back when Sakura faced off against my darkness spell two years ago? Back then, she used both yours and Keroberos's power to change the Light and Dark into Sakura Cards. Even if you two didn't show it, you were probably wearied from the experience. In the same way, Sakura must have unconsciously used Keroberos's power to absorb the sun's energy and transfer it to the Fiery. At, least, that's what I am assuming." To assume the other possibility would be…

"So-So if something happened to Kero-chan then it would be my fault," Sakura said, eyes watering.

Eriol sighed, "But if you had not unintentionally used Kero's power, we would probably still be trapped under layers upon layers of snow. It isn't your fault Sakura-san." He handed her a tissue from a nearby tissue box.

Sakura nodded, sniffing into the tissue once then looked forlornly at the stair again, with an expression of a child who had lost a precious belonging, or in this case, a dear talking plush toy.

"But what does all that have to do with this golden object?" Yue asked.

Eriol frowned down at the object. "This piece looks like a piece of a puzzle and is probably one of many that will create the image of a sun. My assumption is based on something I have read long ago. It is really too bad that I've forgotten most of it. But how; I confess I do not know." Smiling at a shocked Yue and Sakura, he continued, "Don't look at me that way. Though I am the reincarnation of Clow Reed, I am only that; a reincarnation with many memories and inherited power. Besides, even Clow Reed did not know everything; but don't worry, I won't leave you two hanging. Already, the arrangements are being made to find out more and I promise you I will tell you everything I find about this mystery through Clow Reed's books. Nakuru and Spinel are currently on their way back from England by now."

He's left himself a loophole… like always. Yue sighed to himself. Though Eriol had promised to tell them everything he found out about the mystery through Clow Reed's books that did not mean he had to tell them anything he learned from another source. His ponderings were interrupted by Sakura's surprised exclamation, "Hoe? Back from England?"

"That's right. You didn't think that I would just leave you here by yourself did you?" Eriol said with a smile, lightening up the mood. "I think I'll ask dear Syaoran if I can't take his room for the time being."

"Arigato, Eriol-kun," Sakura said with a slight uneasy chuckle.

"There's no need to thank me. Besides, I'm not the only one who's staying behind to protect their friends. Ja ne, Sakura-san." Eriol replied, exiting the living room and out the front door.

Sakura suddenly realized she had one more thing to ask but… "Chotto matte, Eriol-kun! Geez… he left already."

"Don't worry about him. Knowing his scheming brain, he probably already has a place to stay and will sleep comfortably tonight."

"Yukito-san?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise and in a questioning manner.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" Yukito, now back to himself replied.

"You could hear what we were talking about?"

"Well, to tell the truth, all I saw was Hiiragizawa-san walking out the door." Yukito smiled. "Most of it was from my other self though. I guess I'll go ask your brother for a sleeping bag. It's a little too late to go home now and I don't have my keys again. So, I'll sleep here again, if that's all right, Sakura-chan?"

"Yes, that's all right!"

"See you tomorrow morning then. Good night and sweet dreams."

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"It will be soon… the test preparations will be ready by the end of the week. How will you fare this time, Card Mistress?"

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Japanese Translations

Gaki – Brat; Derogatory term for a kid

Kawaii – Cute

Ja ne – See you

Chotto Matte – Wait a moment!

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Ending Note: Sorry for the long wait. As you have probably seen, I have deleted the old chapters that I am currently revising (not the already revised) to give myself more of a freedom of developing things the way I want. Not to worry thought; I have them all backed up on my computer so some of the scenes will probably be reused (though I'm not sure if that is a relief or not).