Chapter 16

(Re)Incarnate

The mood seemed lighter following that evening, and though Syaoran was slightly nervous at dinner, no one said anything about the events earlier. He knew they'd heard him- he'd been crying too loud for them not to have, but no one seemed willing to tread on the past, what had happened, had happened.

The group planned to head out the day after the next, but only because Meilin kept insisting they stay that much longer. She didn't want to have to say goodbye to her cousin just yet.

It was early afternoon the next day when a knock at the door interrupted a quiet moment, and Syaoran stood to answer it. As soon as he opened the door, he was forced back a step, and made an incoherent sound of surprise.

Everyone else in the room strained to look around the young man's frame to little avail.

"Who is it?" Kurogane called out.

"Someone powerful..." Fai muttered, earning a look from the two other occupants of the room.

Syaoran stepped out of the way, and in strode a young man; short, dark blue hair, deep blue eyes behind a small pair of glasses, and the kind of mysterious smile that made everyone wonder what he was thinking.

Sakura stiffened, staring at the young man. "F... Fa-"

"Eriol," Syaoran interrupted. "Eriol Hiiragizawa."

The man bowed to them all in greeting. "As he said, I am Eriol Hiiragizawa. Pleased to make all of your acquaintances."

Fai nodded and introduced himself, Kurogane grunted something and watched the man intently, while Sakura just openly stared, her upper-class manners forgotten for the moment, and Eriol's eyes traveled over all of them accordingly, the smile on his face remaining. Finally, he took a knee before the princess, and took her hand to kiss the knuckles.

Sakura's expression closed as her mind began to work furiously, but she allowed him to brush his lips across the first knuckles of her middle fingers- a common greeting she was more than used to by now, and she met his eyes calmly when he looked up.

"I am especially pleased to finally meet with you, Princess of the Kingdom of Clow."

She continued to watch him, her manner formal and detached. "You knew we were coming?"

He nodded and stood again. "We foresaw this event many years ago, and planned accordingly."

"We?" Fai asked. "You and who else?"

"Well, not precisely myself, but my previous incarnation- the sorcerer Clow Reed, as well as one other party who, until this ordeal is over, shall remain anonymous," Eriol answered, keeping that ever mysterious smile on his face.

Kurogane raised an eyebrow. "Wait... Clow... didn't you just say the Princess is from-"

"Clow Country, yes," Sakura answered, not allowing Eriol a chance to speak. Her brusque manner and continued attention on him allowed everyone in the room to know one thing- now that she was over the shock, she didn't trust him.

Eriol smiled in return, obviously unwilling to fight with her, or unwilling to go too far and step on her toes. He then turned to the two older men in the room, his smile becoming a bit lighter. "Remember, there is no such thing as coincidence."

"Only inevitability," Fai finished with a nod.

"Only necessity," Syaoran added, smiling a bit at the joke only Eriol seemed to get.

"That was Mizuki-sensei, wasn't it?" Eriol asked, and Syaoran nodded.

"Her and Toya. In any case, what brings you out here, Eriol?"

The blue haired man looked to the princess, who stiffened and stared straight back. "You have arrived with someone I've been waiting years to see. Longer even than the Cardcaptor who became master of the cards after I... after Clow Reed died." He looked to the table, where Mokona and Kero laid curled up against each other, asleep in the quiet day. "And it's nice to see the little creature works for its intended purpose."

Mokona muttered something, and turned onto its back, nearly rolling Kero on top of it.

"Besides," he continued, and his mysterious smile returned with force, his true thoughts now even more hidden than before. "I have a gift for you all. You'll find it very useful."

"What sort of 'gift'?" Sakura asked skeptically.

"It wouldn't be much of a gift if you knew what it was before you got it, would it?" He looked from Sakura to Fai, and his smile turned slightly wicked.

The magician tensed uneasily.

"Tokyo Tower," Eriol finally stated after a moment. "You'll have to venture to the capital, and go into the Tower. It's not accessible by conventional means, so you'll have to figure out your own way up there. And it's very well hidden, though I believe Syaoran has a tool that might help you locate its general area."

The youngest male in the room's eyebrows edged up, though he chose not to ask what the reincarnated sorcerer meant; everyone else followed his example.

Despite the awkward tension between Eriol and Sakura, Syaoran played the perfect host and offered him tea before he set back off. Eriol accepted, stating he wouldn't be returning to England for another few days as he had some business to attend to. At that statement, Syaoran had given him a strange look, but once again kept quiet about his curiosity.

It wasn't quite as awkward an affair as first thought; the travelers who had never met the man before found him to have a great sense of humor, and a good sense of diplomacy- he made it a point not to encroach too much on the princess, and she in turn was courteous to him, even laughing genuinely at his jokes. Kero and Mokona awoke sometime in the middle of their tea time, and Syaoran and Meilin had to run into the kitchen to make more sweets as there didn't seem to be enough for the two small animals and they made that point verywell known.

"I'm curious," Fai said as he watched the youngest male turn a corner. "You say you are a reincarnation of this sorcerer Clow Reed, and yet... you seem to remember your past life. From all the stories I've heard, normally you don't remember these things."

Eriol looked into his teacup. "It's a byproduct of his magic. He wanted to make sure his predictions would come true, to ensure this world's safety; and so when I was born, I inherited his power directly and his memories along with it."

"That's an odd way to inherit power. Did it just stay in stasis somewhere and wait for you to come along to reclaim it?" Fai questioned, fully interested in their conversation.

Eriol laughed. "In a way it sort of did; it passed down through Clow's family- particularly his mother's side, and was mostly unable to be completely tapped into, hidden away. However, though my previous form had inherited most of the power of the family, three others were able to tap into the power as well and harness it themselves."

"Three?" Fai pressed, sitting on the edge of his seat.

"Yes. One was a troublemaker who ended up moving to Japan long ago. His bloodline transferred the full power rather easily, something I never quite understood, and ended with Sakura Kinomoto, who somehow ended as powerful as her ancestor with the potential to grow more. Of the other two," Eriol looked up, past the princess' head, staring intently at the wall. "Fei Wong... and Xiao Lang... they-"

Syaoran appeared around the corner, holding a tray of fresh, steaming pastries. Both Mokona and Kero squealed and the conversation was over, just like that. Fai was left to sit back in his seat and ponder, remaining silent for most of the rest of the conversation.

As soon as tea was over, Eriol left with the promise to visit them again before they left, and told them they should probably head to Tokyo Tower soon. No one questioned his urgency, but they all thought about it, long after the door had been shut behind him.

"So I guess we get to put off leaving for a while yet," Fai stated, smiling.

Meilin nodded, but she didn't return the smile. "I know I should be happy I get to be with you all for longer... but if Eriol says there's something needed to assist your quest he must have you find... it means the world's in danger again... and that means again I might have to lose people I know." She forced a laugh and looked at Syaoran. "What number is this?"

He blinked and looked back. "What do you mean?"

"Times you've had to help save the world. What number is this one?"

He bowed his head. "Do you count capturing the Clow Cards separate from converting them all...?"

"Yes, they involved two different things," Meilin pointed out.

"What about what happened... before I left?" He asked.

"I'd think this whole thing is just a continuation of that," the reply was simple, but he flinched all the same.

"Four, then," He said, holding up a corresponding number of fingers. "This will be the fourth time in less than ten years."

Fai whistled, impressed. "Such a responsibility for one so young."

Syaoran's shoulders moved in a motion that wasn't quite a shrug. "I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Besides, she did most of the work. I was just there to..."

"Be a firm foundation?" Kero interrupted. "There were many times when things could have ended very badly; take the converting of the Light and Dark cards for example. Without your help, they would have never been converted- even Yue and I's combined power wasn't quite enough, as much as it hurts me to say. The entire city would've stayed asleep forever if not only were you not powerful enough to resist the sleeping spell, but also powerful enough to push all the rest of the magic that little bit extra needed. Give yourself more credit, you helped save the world three times before, and now you're the one with most of the responsibility, but even so, you've still got plenty of people to back youup now."

Syaoran sighed, smiling at Kero sadly. "Stupid stuffed toy... I know that."

"Thickheaded brat-child," Kero retorted, voice soft. "I don't believe you."

-

"I wonder what that sorcerer is planning this time..." Fei Wong Reed pondered quietly to himself as he watched the scene before him. "A special gift? What could he have made that I didn't already foresee being used..."

Footsteps echoed through the cavernous room, and a figure appeared in the ring of light surrounding the viewing portal, a figure carrying something that looked like another person on its shoulder.

Fei Wong's glance turned to silhouette, and it stared back at him with cold, mismatched eyes. "I see you've returned from your little errand. How does your new hand feel?"

The clone held up his right hand- it was discolored slightly from his own skin tone, the nails on it long and sharp. A thick, ugly scar ran around his lower forearm where it had been attached, but the area of focus was on the symbols imprinted around his wrist. Golden flame swirled around his hand, and his lips upturned into a sort of smile. "Powerful."

Fei Wong nodded, looking from the clone to the viewing screen, and leaning his double-chin on his large hand. "This is troublesome. Clow Reed was a trickier man than even I could anticipate."

"Shall I go interfere before his plot has been set into motion?" the young man asked, turning toward the viewing screen and studying it intently- studying her intently.

"No. I wish to know what it was he thought he could achieve," the older man replied. "It can not be anything I can't handle."

The clone nodded, and turned back to his creator. "Shall I resume, then, gathering what's left of the feathers?"

Fei Wong waved his hand. "Yes. There should not be many left, so gather them quickly."

"And what of... this?" He shrugged his shoulder, and the body on it rose and fell limply.

"Leave her with me. I believe I just found the one thing that shall give me the upper hand," the older man said, the corner of his lip twitching upward.

-

A/N: Now observe as a reincarnated sorcerer, untrustworthy and yet so all at once, aids the weary travelers in a manner not even the aloof king could forsee.

Sorry this was... kinda late. D: I was going to put it up yesterday, but between the new Tsubasa chapter (BAD CLONE! BAD) and Christmas Shopping, I couldn't find the time. Then yesterday, FFn crapped out and kept giving me a 400 Error trying to post it... but it's here now, so enjoy!