(Garrarg: if anyone who's reading this is wondering why Sakura dosen't use many different cards, is that I've only read the manga and in the manga there are only 19 cards as oposed to the 52 in the tv series. I've not watched the series, so everything is based off of the japanese manga. And thanks very much to Vampire-to-B for adding this! I am very happy, you are my first confirmed reader!)
Li Syaoran stood waiting in front of the school, almost in exactly the same spot Avarice stood yesterday. He was at school early, waiting for Sakura impatiently, wondering if Kerberus had known anything about what a 'Fighter' was. The cold wind blew around him and he shivered, but not becuase of the wind. The wind Avarice manipulated yesterday had left him with a strang chilling sadness, as if the gale itself was feeling sorrow. That, along with the chant the magician used led Syaoran to believe that the wind was a captured spirit being forced to do what Avarice wanted. And the fire spirit he used had only a dull sense of anger, but also some strange happiness. It must have been a particularily malovent being that enjoyed causing havoc or pain, and therefore wasn't that resentful at being used by the wild man.
"Syaoran-kun!" Syaoran turned to see Sakura running towards him. She seemed to have decided to come to school early as well. She stopped in front of him, out of breath.
"Did you run here?" Syaoran asked.
"Y-yeah." She caught her breath, and opened her mouth to say something, but she was interupted by the arrival of two students from thier class who ran up to her. They started saying something about a school event excitedly, completely oblivious to Syaoran. Sakura smiled at him and mouthed the words "at lunch" at him. He nodded and made his way into the school. He wondered how important a Fighter was to make her run here earlier than normal. . .Surely another twenty minutes to arrive at her normal time would have been soon enough?
Another cold gust hit Syaoran, but this wind carried a deep sadness with it. He felt the powerful presence of a magician and looked up. The wild-looking man stood on top of the school, his messy mane of red hair and his black coat flapping in his conjured wind. He smiled down at Syaoran, and with a small wave the wind whipped around and blew dust in the boy's eyes. He blinked it away and Avarice was gone, with no trace of his magical aura or his wind. Syaoran looked back at Sakura, she was starring at the spot the magician was standing a moment ago, her two friends still talking to her non-stop. Now the wild man was playing mind games with them, toying with them.
The hours before lunch passed slowly, as things always do when waiting for something important. Syaoran sat behind Sakura, fieghning interest in what the teacher was saying. He just wanted the classes to end and the lunchbell to ring. Every now and then, Sakura turned around and gave him a small smile, as if to tell him to not worry and be patient. He relaxed every time she smiled at him, and it eased his tension a bit. He could actually focus on what the teacher was saying, and realized he missed something important about a test. He sighed and continued taking notes. Syaoran was absorbed in the lesson when he heard the bell, but it wasnt the lunch bell. It was the loud klaxon of the fire alarm, ringing loud and clear throughout the school. Some of his classmates screemed and started to panic.
"Stay calm! Don't worry, just grab your stuff quickly and calmly and follow me!" The teacher raised his voice only a little bit, and order was restored. Syaoran huridly collected up his books and went to Sakuras side and stuck by her like glue. Tomoyo was on her other side, and together they filed out the classroom behind the teacher with the other students. Down the hall they could see the other class's following their teachers the same way.
"Why aren't the sprinklers on?" Tomoyo whispered to Sakura and Syaoran.
"I have a bad feeling about this. . ." Sakura said. Syaoran just nodded. It couldn't have been a cioncidence that Avarice had showed himself just hours before, and now there was a fire.
"Attention all students and teachers!" The speakers in the ceiling crackled to life, the voice of the principal carrying through the halls. "This is not a drill, The front doors of the school are blocked by fire and everyone must exit through the nearest emergency doors! Please remain calm!"
"Okay everyone this way!" One of the teachers lead the crowd through the halls towards the gym, which was the nearest exit. Syaoran held onto Sakuras hand tightly, and she held onto Tomoyo and they made their way through. They were right behind the leading teacher when he opened the doors to the gym. Smoke filled the room and flames licked at the back walls, where the exit was. They danced and swirled in strange ways, and spread alarmingly quickly across the floor towards them. The teacher slammed the doors shut.
"This exit's blocked, do not open this door and move quickly by it please!" He shouted to the crowd behind him and everyone gave the doors a wide berth.
"How many emergency exits are there?" Sakura whipsered to Syaoran worridly.
"Just one more in the cafeteria." Syaoran said glumly.
"This is because of him isn't it? You could feel it too, the fires emotion. . ."
Syaoran nodded.
The crowd quickly made it to the doors to the cafeteria, and once they were open the teacher held the door wide. There were no flames or smoke, and the emergency door was clearly safe. The students rushed to it and left the burning school quickly. Some gave sighs of relief, others just ran faster. In the rush, no one seemed to notice a tall man walking against the stream of bodies. Syaoran noticed and pointed out to Sakura, they both recognized the tall wild figure of Avarice. Everyone he went past didn't even pay head to him, and those he brushed against seemed to not feel it. It was as if he wasn't there. He looked at Syaoran and Sakura, smiled, and kept going.
"We've got to stop him." Sakura said. Syaoran nodded again and started after the magician, still keeping a tight hold on Sakura. She told Tomoyo to leave and not worry, and hurried to Syaoran's side. They slipped into a vacant classroom and waited for the crowd of fleeing people to pass. The footsteps faded and the voices of their fellow students subsided. Once they were the only souls in sight, they ran out from the classroom and into the hall.
"This way, his aura!" Sakura said. Syaoran could sense it too, but not as strongly as she did. They ran as fast as they could without tripping and followed the wild mans ever strengthening aura to the doors of the gym. They paused for a moment and shared a look. Avarice had defeated them easily before, and now he set the school on fire. They would have to give it their all, and failing at this could be worse than what they've had to face before. Syaoran nodded to Sakura and she gave a small but determined smile, and he opened the doors.
Black smoke obscured the ceiling, the air was unbearably hot, the far wall and half the floor were covered in joyous dancing flames of red and orange. And standing in the flames was the ominous form of Avarice, still and silent. Syaoran stood in front of Sakura, and she immediatly released her key into the staff. Avarice smiled and strode twoards them, the fire followed in his wake. He stopped ten freet in front of the children, they regarded him and kept their ground.
"Your defiance is admirable. . .Shall we play now?" He snapped his fingers, and fire danced in his large hand.
"Watery!" Sakura shouted. The symbol of her star covered the ground around her and water rushed around it. The figure of Watery apeared, and she looked angry. Sakura gestured with her staff and the stream rushed at Avarice. The wild man leaped upwards with tremendous speed and threw in quick succesion a swarm of fireballs. Watery made a hissing noise as it hit her, turning much of her stream into steam.
"Light!" Sakura said, and Syaoran covered his eyes just in time. A brilliant flash filled the burning room and Avarice was blinded for a short time. Sakura gestured and Watery rushed at him. Her figure glided across the gym floor, with her stream strengthened and swirling around her in rage. She collided with Avarice, sending him crashing down and across the floor into the wall. Sakura and Syaoran both smiled at bit, but their small vicotry was short lived. A wall of fire swept up Avarice and Watery, and the liquid disapeared into a cloud of steam. He defeated watery again.
"Ha! Nice try with the light there, maybe I should get a little more serious?" The roaring of the fire seemed almost quiet compared to Avarice's booming voice. He walked out of the wall of fire slowly, a malovent grin on his large face, his dark eyes lit up by the fire in an eery way. He looked happy in a very disturbing way.
"Isn't he your Fighter yet? Command him and give me a real challange or hand over your magic now to save me time." The wild man said and waited for her reply. Syaoran looked at Sakura and she gave him a worried look.
"Too slow!" Avarice shouted and fire encircled him. They could hear through the roaring of flames he started chanting.
"What do we do now?" Syaoran asked quickly. "We need to deal with his fire before anything else!" As he said that, there was a loud crackling followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. A beam from the ceiling, which was now covered in flames, had fallen and crushed the benches on the far wall. Thick smoke filled the room, and it was starting to get hard to breath. The air was getting hotter and hotter, and his lungs felt like they were getting cooked.
"Shadow! Hide us from sight!" Sakura released the Shadow card, and immediatly they and most of the floor was engulfed in a black shadow as dark as void.
"Drown them!" They could hear Avarice shout, and a large rushing stream of raging water blasted through his flames, and into the shadows. There was so much water that being hidden didn't help, Syaoran shoved Sakura out of the way and got swept away by the stream and thrown into a wall. The water encircled him and held him down, drowning him as Avarice commanded.
"Syaoran!" Sakura shouted. "Let him go! WINDY!" She released Windy with all her might, all her heart trying to free Syaoran. The resulting wind was so strong, it blew away the water and swept around and knocked Avarice over.
"Fly!" She shouted and large feathered wings sprang from her back. She ran to Syaoran, who wasn't moving. Avarice got up quickly and aimed a pillar of angry red flames at her.
"Shield!" An invisible barrier surrounded her and Syaoran, the flames were averted but barely. The shield almost faded, and now Avarice was readying more fire to throw at them. Sakura held onto Syaoran as tight as she could, and released watery once more. It blasted a hole in the ceiling, which was now starting to collapse.
"Cowards!" Avarice shouted, Sakura took flight straight up as fast as she could. She flew through the hot air, the suffocating black smoke, out of the jagged hole in the ceiling and into the cloudy sky and fresh air. She flew higher and higher above the school, carrying Syaoran. The air was cold and clear, and the school below was in flames. Most of the building was engulfed, and the students and teachers were nowhere to be seen. Fire truckes and frantic firemen rushed to put out the flames, but they seemed to make no headway at all. The flames danced and roared, taunting them. Sakura was about to release watery, to do anything to help, but then she saw the large dark figure of her enemy wxit the building and walk off the school grounds with slow but long strides. Almost the moment he left the grounds, the fires weakened and the firemen got them under control swiftly. Sakura stayed hovering in one spot long enough to make sure that Avarice had left the school for sure and she flew towards the ground. She needed to land but how could she do that and not be seen? Syaoran might need medical attention fast. She agonized over it for a moment hen an idea came to mind.
"Shield! Please, hide us from view! Shield us from the eyes of all nearby!" She released Shield, and it did exactly what she wanted. A bubble formed around her and if anyone were to look in their direction they would see nothng but cloudy gray sky. She landed near the firemen, and her wings vanished. They became visible at the same time the staff turned back into the key. Sakura felt drained from releasing so many cards in quick order, and carrying Syaoran. She still held onto him, even when things went blurry. After calling for help faintly, one of the firemen turned and started running for them, and Sakura fainted.
Syaoran woke up slowly, very slowly. First, he was aware of his aching body. It felt like he was just one big bruise, and moving was worse. He could hear faint voices, like people were talking in another room. He opened his eyes and saw Sakuras face hovering above him. She looked worried but smiled when his eyes met hers.
"How are you feeling?" She asked quietly. She was sitting on a chair beside the bed he was lying in, which had a soft pink blanket and white sheets. He looked around, and saw the off-white yellow walls and slanted ceiling of Sakura's room. He sat up quickly, his muscles protesting as he did. He groaned.
"Why am I in your room?" He asked, as quietly as she had.
"I got my brother to take you here. . .He was at the school, the teacher noticed us missing."
"You got us away. . .How?"
"I flew us out. Don't worry no one saw us." She smiled at him. He relaxed a bit, and got out of her bed and stood up. He was quite sore, but otherwise fine.
"So. . .whats a Fighter?" He asked slowly and sat back onto the bed. Sakura moved from the chair to the bed beside him, and she was silent for a moment before beginning.
"Well. . .A Fighter is usually a friend or someone close to a magician, and the magician uses his magic on them to make them stronger. A Fighter can be imbued with five things, whatever those things are. Like five spells, or five spirits, or five cards, or five elementals. A Fighter would be just like a normal person until the magician called upon them to fight after giving them five magical properties. The Fighter would then fight the magicians battles for him, and be stronger than if the magician were to just use his spells."
Syaoran said nothing, absorbing this information. So, Avarice expected him to be Sakura's Fighter? To be empowered by five cards, become strong and fight him. It sounded dangerous.
"And," Sakura continued after a moment, "once the magician gives five magics to his Fighter, they can't use those five magics unless they remove them from the Fighter. The stronger the bond between the magican and Fighter, the stronger the Fighter is. And once a Fighter is in a battle, the magician can't get hurt by an enemy magician, only the Figher can. The magician would command the Fighter, because when following a command the Fighter will be faster, stronger, better at it than if he acted on his own free will in the magician does more than just command though, they use their energy to keep the Fighter going and also shield the Fighter's mind if the enemy uses mental attacks." She fell silent again.
"Kerberos told you this?" Syaoran asked slowly.
"Yes, he said that a Fighter, no matter how strong the bond, would make us strong enough to maybe beat Avarice. He also said that if we hadn't escaped when we did, Avarice might have. . ." She trailed off, but she didn't need to complete her sentence. Syaoran knew what Avarice would do, and he was worried. He sighed and got off the bed and moved to Sakura's window and looked out. The sky was gray still, wind rustled the leaves on the gorund and moved the trees arms gently.
"Would having a Fighter realy make you be able to beat Avarice?" Syaoran said finally, after a long silence.
"Probably. But Kero-chan said that becoming a Fighter is painful, the part about getting imbued with five cards would be anyways. Very painful." Sakura said without emotion, staring at her hands enfolded in her lap.
"Sounds like our best bet." Syaoran said.
"But-" Sakura started, looking at Syaoran with eyes full of worry.
"What other options do we have? We've been utterly defeated twice and he hasn't used his full power yet, you can feel that too can't you?"
"Syaoran-Kun, at least think about it for a bit. You'd be in alot of pain, and the cards would be a part of you. And everything Avarice could do he would, and you'd have to be the one to take it all and to take him down!" She stood up and faced him, and took his hand. They stared into each others eyes for a long time, neither moving.
"I'll think about it." Syaoran said eventually. "Tomorrow I'll come over, I'll tell you what I decide."
But they both already knew what Syaoran would say. Sakura nodded anyways and let go of his hand.
"I should leave before Touya-"
"Yeah."
Syaoran and Sakura left her room, walked down the narrow stairs and into the main hall. Syaoran opened the door and faced Sakura one last time.
"Be careful." He said. Sakura nodded at him and smiled.
"Oh Syaoran!" She said before he got all the way out of the door. "Tomorrow we have no school, but as soon as we can, we're going to be taking our classes in the highschool classrooms."
Syaoran nodded and left, the imgae of her smile imprinted on his mind.