X-X-X
AN: Hey, as you can see, I talked to CherriEclipse. She's a nice girl. :)
Wish me luck with my life, since it's been off the charts, in terms of drama, ever since the last school year. But don't worry, there's going to be some drama here too, my friends: P
School starts in a few days. Best of luck to everyone!
3, Bluejellooranges
Chapter 2: Storm
Rosa's POV
I opened the front door to my house and left my shoes on the rug. Gurgle. Gurgle. Gurgle. Gurgly gurgle.
What were these weird noises? It was almost like snoring, but nobody would be here at this hour…or could…?
Another gurgle came from upstairs.
What the flip.
Gurgle.
Good God, this is just getting a little scary. Dad and Luke couldn't have gotten back home yet…Dad said he was at work until 6 PM tonight, and Luke's still at soccer practice.
I grabbed an umbrella from the closet and pointed it forward, like a spear. I tell you, umbrellas can be scary when the moment comes. There might just be a day when umbrellas come to life and take over the world. The houses would be umbrellas and—okay, enough of that…
Upstairs, the noise got louder. I crept upstairs to where my room was and glanced around. The source of the gurgling didn't sound like it was here…I opened the trap door to the attic and pulled the staircase down. I staggered back at the screeching wail of the rusting chains. But really, only Dad comes here to occasionally grab some reference book or look at an old photo album.
Gurgle.
Definitely, it was here. But, I don't think it could be a thief…what would they want in here? Nothing much valuable to steal…
The room was in total darkness; it lay shrouded by four walls and no windows. An old, red rug lay underneath several old armchairs with their vibrant colors fading away. The bookshelves carried a stock load of various subjects of information: history, yearbooks, engineering, chemistry, biology, physics, electricity, novels, non-fiction, and others. The closet in the back corner had old coats, Halloween costumes, and other random pieces of cloth arranged messily. The closet door was hanging open. And then, there was something. Something glowing.
I raised up my menacing umbrella in defense and inched towards it. Something felt weird about what was in the closet—a flash of Tokyo Tower and the moon…the red cards…came to my mind. The thing in the closet was a glowing book with strange symbols on it. There was a white beast on the cover, and I trudged over to stand on the rug to ponder…should I open this book? Maybe someone dusted some fluorescent phosphorus powder onto the book…this powder makes things glow in the dark, the kind we can buy at the local joke shop—no, wait. It only works if you have night vision goggles on, which I don't have right now.
I took a deep breath and picked up the book. The Second Book of Clow. What or who is Clow? Okay, so this wasn't glowing by some chemical means…no sort of powder had smeared onto my hands. Touching this book feels so strange…I went back to where the rug was and paced. The cover was flat and there was a lock on the side of the book. As I ran my fingers along it, the lock sprung open!
Curious, I opened it. I gasped. The book held cards! Not just any cards, but those red cards! No, not Yugioh cards, Pokémon cards, or Digimon cards… The same ones I saw in my dream! I picked up the first one of the pile. There was a graceful looking lady-ghost with her hands and wings folded neatly. I glanced at the bottom. Oh man, my curiosity is going to kill me! I resisted my urge to investigate, and slammed shut the book. The book continued to glow, and I shook my head. My hands opened the covers of the book again.
"That's a weird name…Windy," I read the name of the first card.
WHOOSH! I screamed as the cards blasted through the roof. Papers and empty cardboard boxes fluttered around the room from the sheer force of the winds in the room as the cards whipped by. Of course, anyone's reaction would be: "HOLY SHIT! OH SHIT! MOTHERFUCKING CRAP! MY ASS IS TOO YOUNG TO DIE! OH SHIT!"
I sank to my knees.
"Ah…"A small white stuffed animal emerged from the front cover of the book. "Stop with all the swearing! Thank you for waking me up, little girl! I'm Cairoberos, guardian of the Second Copy of the Clow Cards. Call me Cairo. So where are the cards?" she twitched.
"You're…from my dream…"
That white stuffed animal! Am I psychic or something? I'm meeting this creature that I dreamed about!
I looked up at the hole in my roof. Great…I need to fix that stupid hole before Luke and Dad notice…but then again, it's not too hard to notice a gigantic hole in a roof. Pieces of blackened wood, and several tiles fell from above, and I managed to move away before they hit Cairo, the empty book, and me.
"DAMN! DAMNIN' DAMN! MOTHER OF DAMNING HELL OF SHIT! I'M SCREWED!" I never knew THAT much noise could come from a stuffed toy!
"Do you run on Duracell batteries?"
"What's Duracell?" the white thing (for a lack of a better term) asked, stretching its pearly wings. She shrugged her purple-tiger striped shoulders and closed the Second Copy of the Clow Cards. "Anyways, because you lost all the cards, now, I'll have to think who to name as the next cardcaptor…I hope Kero is awake…then I can talk to him about this…" she said thoughtfully.
"Kero?" I asked, weighing the name on my tongue.
"The guardian of the First Copy of the Clow Cards, Keroberos."
"If you're the guardian, why did they all escape? And did you fall asleep on the job?"
"Well…OK, fine. I did fall asleep. I swear I didn't mean it," Cairo sighed sheepishly, scratching her head. "You read out Windy, right? Only Windy could've blown all the cards away like that, while blasting a hole in your roof."
"Why does there have to be a cardcaptor?" I leaned forward to listen more carefully.
"The Clow Cards were made by a kind sorcerer named Clow Reed a long time ago. These cards had AMAZING powers. Enough to destroy the world. Wait…do you actually believe all of this, human?"
"Yes, I do. Sometimes, I feel strange things I can't explain, so I believe in…what would we call it? Magic? Well. But why would a kind sorcerer create cards that can destroy the world? But if the cards can destroy the world… We're SCREWED! I'M TO BLAME FOR THE END OF THE WORLD! AND I'LL NEVER GET REVENGE ON SUE, I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GO OUT WITH MIKE, AND LUKE WILL CRAP HIS PANTS FROM FEAR, AND WE ALL HAVE TO DIE WITH THAT STINK—
"No, you're not to blame. Who are Sue, Mike and Luke?" Cairo put her paws on her hips.
"Sue's an idiot who goes to my school, Mike is one of the cutest boys in my class and Luke is my brother," I explained.
"How old is Luke?" she asked.
"He's eighteen years old," I rolled my eyes.
"I see…how peculiar…not being able to control his bladder and rectum…" Cairo suddenly looked up. "Anyways, it was about time for a challenge. I was getting really bored. And no, those cards don't attack all at the same time," she said in a soft voice.
BOOM! A horrified scream was heard from the yellow, usually peaceful house next door. The house of Sakura Kinomoto.
"Sakura…" I mumbled, getting up quickly.
"So this Sakura person must have released the other set of cards. I sense it. And it's alright….you don't need to check on her."
Is she psychic?
"No, I am not a psychic."
OH MY GOD! Cairo, you are so freaky…
"You know, I think we should go up to my room…My brother and my dad should be home soon. Meanwhile, I must do something about that hole in the ceiling."
X-X-X
"So, Rosa, can you tell me why there's a hole in the ceiling of the attic? And why did you cover it up with a bit of cardboard?" Luke asked as he cut up his steak.
I almost choked on my drink. "Two secret agents dropped in through there by blowing up a hole in our roof. They landed in the wrong house, and they didn't make any effort to pay us back. Those jerks."
"In other words, you did something and you blew up the ceiling," Luke shrugged.
I rolled my eyes. "Sure."
Dad joined us at the kitchen table. "Rosa, you blew up our ceiling."
Great, thanks, Cairo, I have to take responsibility for you and those stupid cards. I gulped and dropped my fork on the floor.
"Well, I won't get you to repair it," Dad wiped his mouth with a napkin.
I let out a sigh of relief.
"What? But Dad—
Dad interrupted Luke. "Rosa, it's in fear of you exploding other things. You might do dumb things, but I taught you for your entire life to be responsible for your mistakes, and some mistakes can be avoidable, but some of them are inevitable. Even though that's not the first time you've blown up something, it's okay. You should try to avoid blowing up things, but the most important duty for you is to take responsibility for what you did wrong, and make sure no one gets hurt. Rosa, you will put together the list of materials for the workmen that I hired to put together. You will also retrieve those materials, and you can't get anyone to help you. Punishment enough…it is frightening to have the ceiling explode right in front of you. Understood?"
I grimaced. This was totally not my mistake that Cairo fell asleep on the job…but who would believe me if I told them something like Cairo existed?
"Yes. I've taken more than one responsibility today," I groaned and stuck out my tongue at Luke. "You're such a loser."
"Actually, you are more of the loser here. You just blew up the roof. The worst I did was accidentally light myself on fire," Luke smirked.
"You two, stop with your fighting. You're always doing such dangerous things. Be more careful," Dad said sternly. "I can't say I didn't warn you if one of you blow up…like…a chocolate bar while trying to stuff it into a blowtorch."
"Been there, done it," Luke laughed.
Dad and I exchanged weirded-out looks.
X-X-X
I peered outside the window after dinner, and tapped my pencil on my desk. We'll need cement, tiles…
Wow…the sky was really dark tonight.
"Thanks for dinner! Anyways, I figured out a solution. YOU will be the next cardcaptor," Cairo announced.
"WHAT? Why should I be the one? I ruined us by releasing those cards."
"You're not ordinary. You managed to open the lock of the book. One needs much power to open that. You said you can sense strange things. You're going catch all those cards. Pay attention."
It was my fault for releasing those cards. I guess I'll have to fix what I did wrongly. It's my responsibility, like Dad said…
A purple key rose out of the book. "I, Cairoberos, the appointer, nominate…" she looked at me with a questioning face.
"Rosa."
"Rosa, to be the next cardcaptor. She will collect all the cards and face Final Judgment."
"Hold out your hand, Rosa!"
I obeyed, and a huge circle of light with Chinese, English, and Latin symbols circled around me. A gentle wind whistled around me, and a surge of…power travelled up from my toes. The moon and the sun aligned in the middle of the circle, and my room turned green with light. The key turned into a staff and floated slowly to my open hand.
X-X-X
Sakura's POV
WHOOSH! A giant bird flew past our window.
"Oh boy…Fly… Time for our first mission," Kero said. Just a couple of hours ago, I was a normal high school girl until I opened what Kero, or Keroberos called 'The First Book of Clow.'
When I read out the name of the first card of the book, winds swept away the rest of the cards! Kero was the guardian of this book, and he'd fallen asleep while guarding it for centuries. Because I accidentally let all those cards escape, I was responsible for catching them now…Kero had called me 'Cardcaptor', but I know I can't manage this position! I was just an ordinary kid who made a mistake when she heard a snoring noise in the basement and went to investigate…and that ordinary kid had found a freaking glowing magical book. It was so unexpected…it was a one in a million chance.
But what else could I have done with the book instead of opening it? Sit on it? I was curious.
"But…this soon?" I was ushered downstairs to the front door. We carefully avoided the line of vision of Touya and Dad, while I put on my skates.
"I hope you didn't think this was a joke. It starts now," Kero hissed into my ear.
The wind whipped past my face as I stepped out the house. The trees trembled, as of in fear of that great bird that Kero called 'Fly.'
"Hey!"
I turned around. Rosa caught up to us.
"You're a cardcaptor too? Who's this?" I gasped.
"Sakura, we're a bit short on time right now. Let's do introductions a bit later, okay?" Rosa gripped a purple stick tightly and gestured to the flying white stuffed toy by her side.
I looked down at the pink wand I was carrying. Our wands were almost identical.
"Remember what spells and incantations we taught you, girls. It will come in use," Kero and the other white thing said.
The screeches of birds were heard around us. They're so loud…loud as thunder, that we couldn't tell where the bird calls came from!
"They're behind us, aren't they?" I laughed.
"AAAHHH!" Rosa and I glanced at each other and screamed at the top of our lungs.
Two gigantically enormous birds dived down at us!
When people say supersize, I think they mean SUPERSIZE! And when they say two is better than one, I totally disagree now! Two gigantic birds chasing after you—not a good thing.
"I don't think we can keep running away!" the two guardians panted, trying to keep up with us.
"You guys are the ones that can fly or have skates on! I'm the one that's running here!" Rosa threw up her hands in exasperation.
I suddenly got an idea, and skated onto the wall. Using the slant of the wall, I jumped into one of the Fly's.
Rosa looked around, trying to find some way to help herself. She climbed onto someone's garden wall, and grabbed onto the talon of the other bird, as it swooped down. The one Rosa was clinging onto swiped Kero and the white stuffed toy into some bushes. They fell like bombs, screaming for help. Rosa slowly wedged herself onto the back of her Fly, using the tuffs of feathers as support.
I almost fell off my bird as I was looking at Rosa. In my pocket, was my one card. Windy…
"Windy! Form a chain around Fly!" I summoned. Windy spiraled out of her card form, and my bird's shrill protests echoed in the neighborhood. Windy had wind herself around Fly's belly, and around and around again. Fly flapped its wings furiously, but it was losing momentum and with a gigantic crash, tumbled to the ground. My head bumped against the bird's back, maybe a little too hard for my own comfort, but other than that, I was still alive.
"Return to your power confined!" I cried. Fly struggled as it tried to escape from the attractive (no, it is not sexy) forces of the spell I had just uttered. The creamy white wisps of the bird were gradually sucked into one small card-shaped portal. At last, the last ghost-like threads of Fly disappeared into a card form, and it zipped into my hand.
Something invisible was bound about my mouth…maybe it's just the wind or something blowing. Nothing to worry about.
Rosa had earlier commanded her Windy to swirl around her Fly and confuse it. "AND DOWN!"
Windy was right above Fly's wings, and she pummeled down onto Fly's backside. The bird squawked in surprise, for it had been caught off guard. Rosa leapt off the bird's back before Windy had made her impact. Fly lost its balance in her struggle against Windy, and as she fell, she continued to bat and twist her body. Rosa tumbled onto the ground with a smooth motion, and got back up on one knee. We covered our eyes as the dust exploded in front of us. "Return to your power confined!"
"We did it!" I exclaimed as the captured Fly card flew to Rosa's fingertips.
"This is Cairo, Sakura. And the companion that you came with…?" Rosa looked at me, and back at Cairo, the white tiger-like beast.
"Keroberos, Rosa. We're your guardians, now that you're our cardcaptors," Cairo introduced cheerfully.
"Cardcaptors? What? Nevermind. Wait…are you two alright after that fall?" I asked.
"Yeah, I guess so—
"Could've been better—
"STOP INTERRUPTING ME!" the guardians screamed at each other.
"By the way, Sakura, Rosa, you two should be more careful. You two could've been killed while you were riding merry-go-round on the Fly cards," Cairo scolded lightly.
"Great work, though! Looks like we've chosen good candidates, Cairo. Sakura and Rosa, will you summon Fly?" Kero congratulated enthusiastically.
"Why?" I asked.
"Yeah, why? We're supposed to release those birdbrains after we captured them? That would attract a lot of attention from the neighbors," Rosa put her hands into her pockets.
"No, just try," Kero rolled eyes, with his paws on his hips.
X-X-X
"Whoa!"
We were soaring above Tomoeda on Fly…and it was AMAZING! It turns out when we summoned it, our staffs would grow wings. How great is that?
The city lights twinkled down beneath us, and above us the moon stood out alone, with no fluffy clouds in the way. The full moon was beautiful, and it was a perfect circle. All was quiet around here, except for the buzz of the occasional, distant airplane.
"I'm still not being cardcaptor, Kero. I don't have the capability of being a cardcaptor," I said.
But I couldn't deny enjoying the thrill of flying...
"Oh c'mon, Sakura. I already chose you," Kero replied.
"If being a cardcaptor means being able to soar above the town like this, I'm in!" Rosa laughed.
"It's a lot more than you think, the responsibilities of being a cardcaptor. You are still a child, young one," Cairo shook her head and chuckled.
X-X-X
Time: 7:00 AM
Location: untraceable
A beautiful lady sat elegantly on a golden armchair with her children seated around her. Her powerful eyes were set on the screen at the front of the stunningly furnished room.
"Mother, why are we here?" one of children asked.
The woman made no response. She blinked slowly, as if patiently waiting for something to happen, like a cat hiding behind a wall for a mouse to run by.
A short, chubby man scurried to the front of the room and pointed at the screen. "The two cardcaptors have started their mission. They have captured Fly."
The children gasped.
X-X-X
The next day…
Rosa's POV
"Hey Tomoyo!" Sakura and I caught up to her in the hallway.
"Hi! Let's go outside for lunch," Tomoyo said cheerfully. "I want to show you guys something." A mischievous giggle escaped from her lips.
I don't like that giggling. It means pure evil, I tell you.
Sakura appeared not to have noticed anything suspicious and followed.
We sat down on the green grass by on the east side of the building. "OK, last night, I caught this on camera."
She switched on her camcorder and rewinded to a certain spot.
OH DEAR GOD. It's Sakura, Cairo, Kero, and I flying on our staffs! I thought we were high enough so that no one saw it!
Sakura sucked in a huge breath. "No, don't!"
"MY ASS! Oh I mean—haha, I think I sat on something weird guys…what could we be ever watching, Tomoyo? Have you taped a new TV show or something?" I grinned guiltily.
"Is another card attacking?" a muffled voice asked in Sakura's bag.
"There shouldn't be…I didn't feel anything weird," came the muffled reply from my bag.
"Is there something in your bags? Maybe you should check," Tomoyo said.
I grimaced at Sakura. Maybe we shouldn't show Tomoyo…this is a super important mission after all, and it has to do with saving the world. It's not safe if many people know about it…
"How did you guys get in there? We told you to stay home!" Sakura screamed, as she zipped open our bags.
"Oh crap," I cursed aloud.
"We just wanted to know how the cardcaptors' lives are…"
"Cardcaptors? May I be introduced?" Tomoyo asked, curious.
"Oh crap it…"
"I'm Keroberos, guardian of the seal, First book!" Kero puffed out his chest.
Sakura, Tomoyo, and even I (I couldn't resist) burst into a fit of giggles.
"You look ridiculous, Kero. Stop puffing out your chest. I am Cairoberos, guardian of the seal, Second book! You can call me Cairo, though," Cairo voiced out cheerfully.
Tomoyo's face widened into an evil grin. I know that face. I bet she's enjoying this. She's planning something evil!
"I'm Tomoyo Daidouji. Nice to meet you, and could you two show me what are the abilities of cardcaptors?" she gestured towards Sakura and me.
"Uhhh…"
"Oh crap…Can we not…?"
"It's OK, girls. I trust Tomoyo is a reliable girl. From your guys' conversations which we heard while sitting in your bags, she sounds like she's your best friend, after all," Cairo said encouragingly.
Kero made a 'go on' gesture.
We took off the necklaces that held our keys.
"Release!" we transformed our keys to staffs, in a magnificent display of light. Maybe it was too flashy…Damn Clow.
"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"
"That kind of ruined the epicness of it all, dude…" Kero chuckled.
"You should have costumes and ohh! Trademark poses!" Tomoyo ignored him and squealed excitedly.
"Shut up! Someone's coming!" Sakura exclaimed.
We froze and looked guiltily above us like kids caught doing bad things. I whistled off-handedly.
"Yamazaki Takashi! Stop telling lies! Rolls of toilet paper do not grow on banana trees in Russia!" Chiraru dragged Takashi by the ear around the corner for a long lecture.
X-X-X
Sakura's POV
BRRRRRIIIIINGGGG! The annoying bell rang, directing the students back to the homerooms. Most of the rooms were pitch black with the exception of a few lamps.
"AHH! MY ROOM! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" , our math and homeroom teacher, screamed like a sissy. Yes, like a sissy.
"Who would do such a thing?"
Chiraru flipped the light switch on the wall. "Hmm…The fluorescent lighting must've burnt out or something."
"Guys, what happened—whoa…"
The desks and chairs were scrambled into a huge pile in the middle of the room. The flowerpots from the back counter were smashed onto the ground, and pieces of china, wilted flowers, and water were scattered everywhere.
"STEP OUTTA DA WAY! I'LL SAVE ALL OF YOU! MIGHTY ERIOL HAS COME TO SAVE YOUR SOULS! AND MY NUMBER IS 489-0769! MY LOVE FOR YOU, LADIES!"
"Is our homeroom really that bad?" Rosa and Tomoyo asked as they tried to get a better view from the crowd of students.
Eriol's phone rang from his pocket. Mr. Terada was too busy freaking out to yell at Eriol for having his phone turned on during school hours.
"Oh! Hey, baby! What's up, and who are you?" Eriol picked up his midnight blue cell with flamingo pink stripes daintily.
"Eriol…wow," I laughed.
The class erupted in chaos as continued spazzing.
"So, who called you?"
"AHH! MY HOLY EARS! It's…it's…it's…Takashi…"
"Haha, gotcha, dude!" Yamazaki slapped the wall. He was bent over, clutching his stomach while roaring with laughter. He blew a kiss in the air. "I love you, dear Eriol."
Eriol screamed like a little pig. "You—I…sick, gross, ewww….Takashi…I just wanted to let you know, I don't like guys like you, who can't open their eyes."
Takashi's closed eyelids fluttered a little and then he grinned. "I know I don't open my eyes, at least not very often, but just for the record, out of all of you, I did the best on the driving test last week."
I giggled, and looked at the wall. I froze. With all the students milling around, some people tried to jump up, to get a better view of the classroom. And…they jumped right in front of the light of the lamp. I couldn't see their shape on the wall…but…
"Announcement: This is Principal Nakazaki. The power outlet was disconnected, and we are able to turn on the lights now. Thank you."
The simultaneous click of lights echoed throughout the entire school as we swarmed into our classes to clean up the mess.
I looked down behind me and noticed…I had no shadow. But neither did anyone else.
X-X-X
AN: Dun dun dun! They've captured Fly and something new is coming up! What could it be?
Hope you enjoy the chapter! Don't forget to review!
But HUZZAH! I passed by driving test, but barely, ahaha. I procrastinated so much: P
A new post is coming your way soon :)
3, Bluejellooranges August 27, 2010