Author's Note: This is actually an interlude set in between the events of Chapter 14 and the upcoming Chapter 15. It contains some other minor Clamp references, which hopefully put each of the universes into perspective. See the note at the bottom for further information on this if you need to after reading. Otherwise, enjoy the extra addition to this week's chapter. ;)
Thanks again to those who reviewed. I'll have proper responses to your comments listed in next week's chapter.
Supplementary note: This interlude has been edited as of 1/25/14. I hope this revision has made it more conducive to the flow of the story and clarified a few plot points for readers.
"I have something I need to tell you before we go, Yuki" Touya said.
The two of them were sitting on his bed finishing their assorted homework. Yukito lifted his head and waited patiently for the explanation to come.
"I've been having visions about technology that doesn't exist and people that aren't who my instincts tell me they are" Touya admitted, speaking slowly and deliberately. "I can tell that what I'm seeing is..." He sighed. "On another plane of existence."
"From what we've seen of Clow's magic and what Yue's told me, I wouldn't be surprised" Yukito commented lightly.
"Some of them involve Tomoyo owning a company, no surprise there, but the others have her becoming a priestess, and riding a giant bird. Most of them though, seem to be focused on a specific chain of events."
Yukito eyed him carefully, a concerned expression plastered on his face.
"What did you see that has you so worried, Touya. Is this something we need to be ready for?"
The Cardmaster's looked slightly apprehensive.
"No more than we already are. The events don't actually involve you and I directly, at least not our world's version of us. I've keep seeing another world. It could be the one Clow Reed entered before he died. There were alternate versions of you, me, Sakura, and the Li brat. Then there the magical constructs, copies of that world's real Sakura and Syaoran. That world's version of the brat had some type of connection with the Witch's successor, Kimohiro Watanuki."
Yukito eyed him carefully, a concerned expression plastered on his face.
"It's difficult to imagine there being more than one version of us, not to everyone else we've met. I have to wonder if they're lives were just like ours or if we're the lucky ones." The gray haired teen commented lightly. "Yue says he's heard Clow speak of other worlds before, but he never mentioned anything about alternate versions of people."
"Clow was secretive about a lot of things" Touya put in. "We've been slowly discovering them over the past six months. The guy was more paranoid than any of us by a half, and I can't say that I blame him."
"He had everything to lose" Yukito replied quietly. "That might be why he gave up everything before he traveled to that other world, he was more afraid of things being taken from him."
"It's possible" the Cardmaster agreed. "There was some type of invasion in that other world and it distracted everyone from the fact that Sakura had accidentally activated some magic runes. The runes caused her soul to appear outside of her body in the form of two winged feathers. The brat tried to help her, but instead the feathers just scattered themselves like leaves on the wind. The other version of you used magically transported her and the brat to the Witch's shop in our world. After they paid her price, she sent the two of them on this journey to find the feathers. They were accompanied by two men, a sorcerer and some type of samurai or ninja, she summoned from two other dimensions. Eventually, after they found most of the feathers, the copies were revealed and one of them tried to kill the sorcerer. The brat, I think. Then the brat from the alternate world showed up and things got a bit fuzzy."
"Are they still alive?" Yukito wondered.
"They are. These events haven't even happened yet. I have to pay the Witch a tiend so that the real version of Syaoran, apparently he's also from yet another world, can travel to that world to meet its version of Sakura. I only caught a glimpse of him, but Clow Reed's somehow involved."
"Isn't he dead?"
"He is. I get the feeling he stepped in at some point before or after the alternate versions of Sakura and the brat were switched with their copies. I think Clow might have been trying to stop the one who caused the invasion, another sorcerer. He had a monocle and a cloak with this symbol on it."
Touya sketched out the symbol on blank piece of paper of Yukito to see. His friend eyed it speculatively.
"Yue says he remembers that symbol. It was on the cover of one of Clow's books" Yukito stated. "I should let him explain.
Yukito bowed his head as his body was enveloped by two wide feathered wings.
"That was unnecessary. However my other half is correct in that I might be able to make things more clear" Yue assented straightening noticeably. "Clow kept a significant information stored in his library. I know not where he got some of the tomes he amassed throughout a century's worth of study, but I do know that the book in question contained a long list of enchantments. You would do well to be wary of this man if he had any part in the creation of those enchantments."
"Do you know if Clow Reed had any connection to the sorcerer or if he obtained that book during your time with him?" Touya queried.
"Clow did not come into possession of that book while I lived, of that I am certain" Yue confirmed "but I do suspect he had some connection with this man that may have been of an unpleasant nature. Clow never touched the book himself and it mysteriously disappeared from his library only a day after I explored its contents. I had previously suspected it was one of the Witch's acquisitions."
"So it all comes back to Witch's shop. I suspect whoever holds that position after the Witch leaves, might be the key to undoing this mess Clow made when he upset the balance by saving her." Touya mused. "I appreciate you help, Yue."
Yue inclined his head before disappearing in a whir of wings, allowing Yukito to come to the forefront once more.
"I wish we could interfere more freely." Touya uttered with a look of consternation. "Unfortunately we need to let everything play out. We have no control over the sorcerer's movements, which means he has access to Watanuki, the other Sakura's and the brat. I feel like I can't just stand by and let that version of Sakura lose more than she already has-"
"-and you're not sure you can do it?" Yukito finished. "Touya, as much as I don't like saying this, I understand what you mean. We know we can't go to that other world to save the other Sakura's. We can only protect the Sakura we know and love. I know it grated on you and your other self that you can't save them yourself."
The Cardmaster looked down at the blanket beneath his fingers and threaded his hands together in an effort to stay calm. The implications of his visions had been spinning in his head the moment they'd become clear an hour or so before. Speaking with Eriol Hiiragizawa had triggered several more intuitive feelings that all bottled down to the same conclusion. People who resembled those he loved were going to get hurt with or without his interference and the only thing he could do to prevent their suffering from being in vain was to change the course of fate at the appropriate time. Of course it grated on him, it aggravated him like nobody's business to watch some nameless sorcerer torture children and get away with it, particularly ones that looked like his little sister and her friend.
"I keep seeing the sorcerer next to a clock with Yuko Ichihara's face on it. We know Clow stopped her time a minute before she died" Touya said. "Maybe this man actually some lingering effigy of Clow Reed or vengeful suitor of hers who lost out to him and is now trying to get her time restored so she can die in peace. Either way his unwarranted interference has already caused quite a bit of suffering."
Touya's eyes shone with renewed light as a thought came to him.
"I have an idea, Yuki. We can still see about changing something in our world so that it effects what's going to happen when that man inevitably tries to set the Witch's time straight."
"What are you going to do, Touya?" Yukito asked. "Even if we offer to trade with her, she's already chosen successor. Wouldn't it be more difficult then to get her to change her mind?"
"Yes, but it can't be Watanuki. It's imperative that he stay out of reach of any world other than this one."
"How did you manage to find out what he is, Touya?" Yukito asked suddenly. Yuko wasn't the type to let information go easily.
"When that other version of Syaoran left his own to meet with the other Sakura, someone had to take his place to balance out the plane of existence. So, from what I've seen, after the kid crossed the threshold, Watanuki appeared in our reality. He was born to this couple, the Watanuki's, who were previously unable to have children. The mother used to own a little shop down in Tokyo that sold books and herbs, and the father was a chef at some restaurant nearby. When the two of them died their money would have gone to charity, but it went to their son instead because he existed" The Cardmaster answered. Touya looked up once more to give Yukito a grateful smile. "I was distracted before we left the Witch's shop, partly because of you and Yue, and partly because I suddenly had a sense of the kid's existence. The charms on the place keep people, especially those with clairvoyance, from sensing what he really is. However the combination of Yue's magic and mine managed to throw everything off for a short period of time. So much so that by the time we left I couldn't stop seeing visions of Watanuki's past, present and future."
"That explains why Tomoyo had to remind both of us why we'd come by demanding confirmation on the protection spell" Yukito remarked. "I thought you were simply trying to get us out of there as quickly as possible because you were still a bit in shock."
"I was" his friend admitted, "but I was more worried about you. That and the visions were becoming clearer the closer we were to each other and I didn't want her to notice it. It's been happening a lot more, for some reason you and Yue seem to make my feelings and visions more clear. Kero as well to a much lesser extent. The three of you helped to me to finally sense what the source of my power was and Sakura's."
"I'm glad we were able to help, however inadvertently" Yukito said with a smile. Then his face furrowed slightly in a small frown. "As long as mine and Yue's presence aren't causing you any type of disturbance or painful visions."
Touya shook his head.
"We'd find a way around it, if that ever happened" the Cardmaster affirmed. "Having you and my guardians around helps me focus more, so a way you're protecting me against things like the charms in the Witch's shop that I otherwise wouldn't be able to sense or counteract. Sirius also helps.
"Sirius?"
"Sirius the Dog Star is the source of my-our joint power, even though you and Kero are able to tap into the energies of the moon and sun." Touya explained.
"That explains why you and Kero argue like a cat and a dog sometimes" Yukito commented with a giggling.
Touya attempted to scowl at the other, but had a hard time keeping up his expression as it actually was an amusing scenario.
"Sakura's source is Polaris the North Star. The brat gets some of his magic from Mars, the closest planet to our moon, so it's no wonder he has an affiliation with it."
Yukito nodded. That explained why Syaoran had blushed every time they came within a few paces of each other. It was the attractive power of the moon's magic taking effect on him. Yukito was glad that said effect seemed to have ebbed slightly as time wore on and he hoped their interactions would be less awkward for the younger boy within the coming year. The revelation that there were other worlds and other incarnations of himself and possibly everyone he knew was still jarring to Yukito, but at the least they knew what was going on. Touya wouldn't have any reason to lie about these types of things and the idea that he might had never crossed the gray haired teen's mind. Yue, for his part, also seemed inclined to have an invariable amount of faith in his master, after Touya had proved himself that day at Yuko's shop. Both Yukito and Yue silently agreed that Clow Reed's ability to stop the flow of time for the Dimensional Witch meant the sudden existence of other people like Watanuki, and possibly the sorcerer, not to mention Eriol Hiiragizawa, were not out of the realm of possibility.
"What will you do, Touya?" Yukito wanted to know.
"There is a person in our world, a young girl with powers a bit like mine. I think she might be the key to unraveling this mess if we can get the Witch to agree to let the girl succeed her instead" Touya replied. "If Kimihiro Watanuki isn't tied to the Witch's shop, there will be one less person the owl man can use in his plan. Or at least curb the fallout. We can't let people like Watanuki or Kobato, whose existence is fragile as it is, be effected by some inter-world spell. That could upset the universal balance in a way that proves disastrous to everyone."
"I agree" Yukito said with a nod. Then he grinned. "Even if it does have something to do with your sister complex."
"Oh shut up" Touya grumbled as Yukito nudged him with his shoulder.
"Will it happen right away, do you think?" Yukito wondered.
The Cardmaster shook his head.
"No, I still have to pay the price for the alternate version of the brat, the real one, to go to the other world."
"But, Watanuki already exists here?" Yukito pointed out as he adjusted his glasses to sit more comfortably on the bridge of his nose. "How can two people exist like that, when one of them is only taking the place of the other? It seems...strange."
"Remember what I said about time, Yuki? It works in strange ways." Touya said, leaning over and resting his head in his hand. "The world where that Syaoran comes from is behind ours in the time stream somehow. There was a version of Sakura, the copy I mentioned, and she came from somewhere else too. I know this because I used to get visions about another girl when I was kid. Her name was Elda. She wasn't human, she was a Persocom, a humanoid robot that's actually a household computer with a personality. There were more of them in her world and it was almost as if they had souls."
He took a breath before continuing.
"I saw her sister Freya fall in love with their creator and father figure, and deactivated herself because if anyone found out it would ruin the lives of her family. Her creator was already married to a woman Freya considered to be her mother. Elda was devastated when she found out what her sister had done and asked her parents to have her memories erased. Elda's plan was to be left out in a back alley for someone to find. She wanted to find a love that solely her own and to forget about her broken family."
"Did you understand what was happening at the time?" Yukito asked.
"Yes, though saw their story on and off for about five years. Eventually Elda was picked up by a prep school student who was renting an apartment from Elda's now widowed mother. From what I could see, Elda, now Chii, did eventually get what she wanted after months of having to reintegrate into society as a persocom. Unfortunately, she and the boy met up with others along the way that lead to some temporary complications. One of these new friends was an acquaintance of the Sakura copy, from the boy's college prep class."
"Meaning that these visions about Chii lead into the other ones about Sakura" Yukito commented understandingly. He put an hand on Touya's shoulder. "Maybe Clow Reed had an effect on that world as well."
"I wouldn't doubt it." Touya agreed. "This world's Sakura was the copy who lost her soul during the invasion. What I didn't realize until later, was that this version of her was both her past and future. She had these three friends who kept visiting their version of Tokyo Tower. Every time I saw those three, a creature that resembled Yuko's Mokona would show up in a flash of magic and the world just froze."
"Was this Sakura like Chii or Freya?"
"No, she was human, I'm sure of it. She later became the mother of the true version of Syaoran in the world where the alternate versions of you and I reside with their version of Sakura" the Cardmaster answered. "Besides, Freya's still locked away and that Sakura is gone now. She too gave up everything for her family's sake, only to suffer at the sorcerer's hand once again. It was hard watching them suffer when I knew I couldn't stop what was happening to them. Even when they willingly subjected themselves to it."
Yukito nodded sadly, putting a hand on his shoulder in comfort. The tension in Touya's shoulders relaxed marginally at the touch.
"I think you've always done what could Touya and there are some things we cannot change. Even Clow Reed couldn't keep things up indefinitely" the gray haired teen reminded him.
Touya sighed deeply, then closed his eyes and nodded.
"Thanks Yuki. I wasn't kidding when I said the three of you made everything more clear" he explained. "The Witch told me that there were only two Mokonas the first time I saw her. We only saw one that time we visited the shop. That Mokona, the white one I saw in the other world, might be the same one she was talking about. If it isn't, we have evidence that Clow Reed's magic did have an effect on other worlds, possibly more than the Witch aware of. It might be enough to force her to change her mind and consider our deal."
"I hope you're right, Touya" Yukito said with a unreadable expression. "You know can rely on me and Yue to help out wherever we can. Just be careful. If anything happens to you, we'll be sealed away again."
"I know, Yuki. I'm not going to let that happen."
No, Yukito thought silently, he would make sure it didn't happen, regardless. He and Yue already had an idea of what they would give the Witch if everything went as planned. The two of them had agreed upon the answer to a problem that would come to plague them sometime in the future.
It was the only way, Yue said. Once was enough.
I'm glad I wasn't there to see it, Yukito agreed. I wouldn't have handled it any better. At least we won't have to deal with any of this alone.
You wouldn't have liked it, Yue put in. At least now we know what some of this means. Before, I think even Clow didn't know what was going to happen and...it killed him.
We don't know that.
No, but the Witch isn't going to tell us exactly what happened and Touya doesn't seem to know. Yue countered. The sorcerer is too suspicious, I stand by what I said. He has something to do with Clow Reed. I don't doubt that he is another person whose presence has been blocked from my memory. Clow may have been involved further than we may have liked.
Or he was caught up in it. Yukito answered. We'll be careful.
Watch out for our Touya. Was all the guardian said.
Our Touya? Yukito asked wryly. Are you admitting to something, Yue?
Not...not yet. And don't you tell him anything! Yue protested. I'll tell him when this business with the final card is over. When I've decided.
Whatever you say, Yue. Just don't forget, your feelings are important too.
Busybody. Yue grumbled before going back to sleep.
Yukito returned to his math homework, putting all thoughts of other worlds from his mind. He needed to finish his assignment before they went to meet Eriol Hiiragizawa later than afternoon. It was going to be long, as he knew both Touya and Yue would demand explanations from the wizard. They would all have to be on their guard as well. Worrying about school assignments would only add to that anxiety if he didn't stay one step ahead of everything.
Supplementary Note: In my AU Cardcaptor Sakura takes place in the same universe as the Kobato (manga/anime) and xxxHolic.
Reasons this might not be true in cannon:
-It could be argued that Kobato takes place in a separate universe as Kurogane, Fai and alternate/real!Syaoran show up there during the Kobato anime, after the Tsubasa Chronicle manga.
Reasons this might be true in cannon:
- However, Sakura gives up her staff/key to Yuko as the price for alternate/real!Syaoran to being his journey and enter Clow Country in order to meet alternate/real!Sakura.
-Also, Kobato's friend/eventual boyfriend Fujimoto is employed at Piffle Pizza, and is show with Touya (or at least a version of him) in one scene during the Kobato anime.
Separate Comment: Tsubasa Chronicle happens in a separate universe all its own as well as in many many many other worlds, as Kurogane, Fai, Clone!Sakura, Clone!Syaoran, Real alternate! Sakura, alternate/real!Syaoran and the White Mokona travel to these worlds in search of magic feathers.
In addition, the Magic Knight Rayearth universe takes place in the same universe where Clone!Sakura and Clone!Syaoran are sent after they make a deal with Yuko at the end of xxxHolic. I realize that there are a number of alternate versions of Clamp characters, however, the Magic Knight Rayearth girls show up together as Clone!Sakura's school friends in the following chapter, right before she meets Clone!Syaoran again
Current timeline for this fanfic AU and other CLAMP universes in it:
Same universe: Cardcaptor Sakura - xxxHolic - Kobato.
Same other universe: Magic Knight Rayearth (the world the Rayearth girls came from, not the one they travel to) - Clone!Sakura's new world - Chobits - Angelic Layer (Angelic Layer is not mentioned in this fanfic, but it is cannoninacly in the same universe as Chobits, see Chobits manga/anime.)
Different Universe: Tsubasa Chronicle.
Let me know if you have any questions about this. I know it's confusing. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the story. ;)