Ok, this time the AN shall be here, because I have a feeling that some people will be either too stressed out, upset or positively furious with me by the end of this chapter to read any notes.
Someone asked me about Daeron's power, I thought it had been left clear when he summoned Tigris, Daeron is a Lord of the Beasts, an animal summoner, magical animals only of course; if anyone has seen MKR think Ascot, except Daeron's animals look more normal than Ascot's.
Now, in this chapter you'll see our six main characers wielding a new level of power, and before anyone flips and says it cannot be, I'm just saying: pay attention to Yelan's explanation!
So, I think that's it, for now...oh, and yeah, only one more chapter to go so...update soon!
Chapter 12.- The Circle of Light.
"Eriol, Daeron." Shaoran called to them. "We need you to cover us."
"What for?" Daeron asked.
"We know a way to defeat Michel once and forever, but first we need to do a special spell, while we do it we'll be vulnerable, so we'll need someone to look after us." Sakura explained.
"You count with us." Eriol told him.
So Sakura set her staff on the ground, and knelt before it, with her hands clasped together. Shaoran laid his sword in a horizontal way, just behind the staff.
"Ready?" Sakura asked.
"Yes." Shaoran replied.
"What the hell are you planning?!" Michel yelled at them.
"Nothing you need to know about." Meiling told him getting in a battle stance.
"You wanna play more?" Michel mocked them.
"No." Tomoyo refused. "No more games, this time it's for real."
"Then lets see what you've got." Michel told them, it was obvious he didn't believe those four to be a challenge for him.
And the four knew it, they knew it was more than impossible for them to defeat Lord Michel, but after all, they didn't want to defeat him, just to gain enough time so Sakura and Shaoran could do whatever they were planning to do.
And meanwhile the audience just looked at them. Wondering what was going on now. It was obvious the tournament was over already, Sorceress Cherry had been declared the winner, but this Wizard seemed to be wishing the victory a lot, perhaps too much.
Yelan knew things were really serious. In a way she wished to intervene, but knew she wouldn't be of much use, so she better stay back and prepare to use her powers to protect the rest of the audience if need be. And she wished that would never happen.
The counselors just looked at everything in silence. They knew who the enemy was, and how difficult it was to fight him. And in their minds they were too praying for those teens to destroy him, because if not they would have to stand to him, and they knew they would surely die. (Such cowards…)
"Ray of the Sun, give light to my life; Halo of the Moon, reflect my dreams; Glow of the Stars, show me the way tonight." Sakura began chanting.
Her magic seal shone under them, just that this time the sun, moon and star each had an equal place in the circle.
"Blaze of the Sacred Fire, Wave of the Deep Sea, Haze of Ethereal Wind, Mountains and Forests of this Living Earth; combine your infinite powers, show yourselves to me." Shaoran recited.
In the magic circle added kanjis with the elements, the Ying-Yang emblem in the middle of it, and the figure of a golden dragon around it all.
Just when the seal began glowing Sakura unclasped her hands and raised them, Shaoran took them in his own.
"Magic that burns deep inside, arise; Spirits of the infinite force, come to us; Secret Powers laying all around the Universe, release and come to our aid." They both chanted together. "The Heirs of Clow have reunited, and they are calling for your eternal brightness. We summon thee, come answer our prayer, come help this world in need. We call upon you, to resurrect the ancient powers, to give back the life to the old legends. Let us bring back: The Eternal Light!"
There was a great light that blinded practically everyone in all Almaren. And every magical person all around the world could feel something was going on there, something big.
The dresses of the three gals were restored, and Meiling and Tomoyo were too wearing capes in the same color of the dresses; the difference was that now the seal embroidered in the capes was the one that had formed with Sakura's and Shaoran's most recent incantation. The guys were wearing each of them their own ceremonial robes, along with capes in which the same symbol had been sewed.
"It can't be…" This time Michel seemed to be truly shocked.
Just as the rest of the audience…
"This can't be…" some began murmuring.
"It's impossible…" another added.
"Those six are…"
"The Circle of Light."
"The Mythical order…"
"The union of the most powerful Sorcerers and Sorceresses of all times."
"Those who were said to be back if the world was ever to fall into darkness and chaos."
"But they can't be…"
"Those are only legends…"
And the rumors went on and on.
The six sorcerers just turned to look at each other, not fully getting what was just going on with them, less of all understanding why the rest of the wizards were so freaked-out with their change of appearance. If they just knew…
"It's not impossible." Yelan said suddenly.
"Do you really think it is them madam?" one of the members of the council asked her.
"Maybe it's not them in body, but their magic is here, in those six. As a result of my son's and his loved one's incantation." Yelan said.
The members of the council just looked at her, stunned. Was she publicly approving that girl in her family?
"This is what the fusion of the power of the two Heirs of Clow can do." Yue sentenced.
"Are you okay?" Rubymoon asked worriedly.
"We're perfectly fine." Kerberus interrupted, as he too got up. "Our Mistress is on full level, and so are we."
"So we must go aid the Heirs of Clow." Spinel Sun sentenced.
"You can't believe that girl is truly the Heiress of Clow?!" One of the counselors said, it sounded as he was mocking Sakura.
And that didn't sit too well with two certain guardians.
"Don't you even think about mocking our Mistress…" Kerberus threatened him, a clawed paw on the man's chest.
"Sakura is the Mistress the Sakura Cards, known by most as the Star Cards, as the Star is her seal." Yue explained. "But those Cards were formerly known as the Clow Cards."
This made some of the Counselors gasp.
"So as you may see Sakura IS Clow's heiress." Rubymoon added annoyed.
"And I don't think you have any doubt about Shaoran." Spinel Sun added.
"We better go help them." Yue said.
"Yeah, there's no reason to be losing time with this losers." Kerberus added.
The four guardians turned around and flew to the six Sorcerers, landing just behind them.
"So, we're all ready." Sakura murmured turning around to se everyone.
Everyone around her just nodded, in battle stances, each in their own way, they were all prepared for the next part of this battle.
"Then let the true game begin." Shaoran ordered.
And in that moment…
…all hell broke loose.
.---.
The battle went on for what seemed like forever.
Each power, each spell, each punch, each incantation, crashing with that one of the opponent, creating a hoop of power that made echo into the distance, the power level was so big no one would have been able to measure it.
And many of the people there began wondering how much the land they were standing on would last, how much longer it would endure their terrible confrontation.
Time itself seemed to stop. They moved so fast, with each attack and defense it was as if the rest of the world had frozen, or as if they had vanished. Nobody could see them anymore, they would believe they weren't even there, if it wasn't by the power that could still be felt there… That could be felt all around the world.
Wizards, witches, mages, sorcerers, shamans, mediums, priestesses, monks, magical people from all around the world stopped whatever they were doing to turn at one same direction: That in which Almaren was located, that in which was taking place the most incredible battle ever, the battle for which depended the future of the universe. The whole way of living, the future of everyone and everything was laying on the shoulders of six teenagers who had in one second become the most powerful ever.
.---.
The opponents took one second to breath, standing in opposite sides of the battle field.
"We must put an end to this, now." Meiling sentenced suddenly.
They knew what she was talking about. They too could feel the earth beneath their feet crumbling, as if about to fall into nothing.
"Fine." Eriol nodded. "Kerberus, Yue, Spinel Sun, Rubymoon, we need you to distract Lord Michel."
The guardians didn't even complain, they immediately threw themselves to battle.
"Ok, then lets do this." Tomoyo murmured.
Daeron nodded.
And so they got into place:
They didn't know exactly how, but someway they knew what they were doing. It was as if that knowledge had always been in the bottom of their minds, down there, waiting for it to be needed.
Eriol was the first to get in place. With his staff set before him, he murmured some spells in an undertone, and immediately after he was surrounded for what seemed to be spirits of ancient sorcerers, all the past magic getting trough him, to them.
Tomoyo on one side closed her eyes and suddenly began singing, a song in an ancient language only magical people could understand. And as she sang, the wind seemed to sing with her, enveloping her in a mystical breeze that lifted her magic above the very sky.
On the other side Daeron was holding his scepter with both hands, then he began shifting hands, moving it, like a baton, a strange brown smoke coming from it and slowly forming a wall around him; in a way he knew that, through the scepter, he was canalizing the power of all his beasts.
Near him Meiling was dancing, slow and perfect movements. Following the music of Tomoyo's voice, and a rhythm her own body seemed to dictate to her. Her body moving in such sublime and seductive ways, recreating a choreography that had been so long ago lost. And as she danced, delicate never-dying flames seemed to dance with her, bringing out the heat of earth itself for her to use.
Shaoran took out all his mantras and formed a circle with them, and holding his sword upwards he began summoning every power he ever possessed, combining it all in the blade of his ancient sword.
And in the opposite side was Sakura, holding her staff with both hands, the Cards moving in circles around her, as she seemed to murmur an ancient incantation under her breath. The Cards began glowing, their magic surrounding her, releasing all the power they possessed.
And in the moment they had reached their limit a six-pointed star formed in between them.
*Move out!* Eriol and Sakura yelled in their guardians minds.
The guardians immediately obeyed.
Just then the hazes of light and magic that had formed with each of the sorcerers were shot to the middle, combining; the full power and magic of the whole universe mixed in one place.
Earth, Sea and Sky, the whole planet seemed to shake in the instant all the powers combined. As if resenting such a gigantic force to be in such a limited place.
And it was then that Lord Michel noticed what was happening below him. And he seemed to know exactly what that attack meant.
"No!!" he cried out hysteric.
But it was already too late, the blast was shot upwards and collided with him, sending him up, and up, out of the atmosphere, into the vast outer space.
"You know no matter what you do I'm immortal!" Michel yelled at them. "I'll never die!"
"But you'll never be back either." Shaoran assured him.
"Anyway, I'll leave you a memory of my visit." He said, and threw at them a last attack.
Tomoyo was panting, her body barely resisting such powerful magic, but she knew she couldn't move out of her place yet, not until the star at their feet disappeared.
If any of them moved the attack would be wasted, their efforts would be in vain, and they would all be lost.
Meiling too was shaking, her will above her physical strength holding her up.
Daeron and Eriol, even if they had been sorcerers all their life, it was costing them a big effort to keep their place. Not really because of being tired, but because of seeing the state in which two certain gals were.
Shaoran was breathing heavily, having used his full potential for the first time. But it didn't matter to him, he was more concerned for the woman standing before him, across the magic star, the woman whom he knew would be a lot more drained out.
And Sakura, well, she didn't even know how she was standing, it was a miracle to her. Perhaps it was because in the bottom she knew that the safety of the whole world, and the people she knew and cared about depended on her holding herself a little longer.
But when they saw that last attack, they didn't know what to do.
They knew if the attack were to hit the center of their formation they would all die.
Just then the star began fading, meaning they could move now. But if the did the attack would hit the earth and kill everyone at least on 100 miles around anyway.
Yelan knew that.
"We're lost!!" many people began screaming.
They all began running, screaming, creating a terrible chaos. As they all wished to leave Almaren, to get a chance to save their lives, but knew it was impossible. There was no way they could leave the island before the blast hit. And that got them even more hysteric.
The Counselors and organizers tried to calm them down, but most of them were already too panicked themselves to do anything at all.
The guardians just looked at them, not knowing how to help.
Spinel Sun shook his head in pity, such mortals, worrying for their lives instead of doing so for those of the ones who had used till their last bit of energy and power to try and save them.
"No…" Rubymoon murmured, stressed out.
"There must be something we can do." Yue murmured.
"But what?!" Kero yelled at him.
"It all depends on our masters." Spinel Sun said.
"But don't you see them?" Rubymoon spat. "They are all worn out."
"Especially Mistress Sakura, and Masters Shaoran and Eriol." Yue added.
"We're lost." Kero murmured sadly.
Spinel Sun didn't know what to do.
And suddenly, before anyone could pronounce a word one of the sorcerers moved.
Still with the cards in one hand, and her staff in the other, Sakura ran and with her last bit of energy threw herself in the course of the attack.
"No!!" The guardians cried out.
"Sakura!!!" Meiling and Tomoyo screamed at once, raising their rings, as if willing them to save their creator.
Eriol and Daeron ran to hold them the moment they collapsed to ground.
Shaoran began crying of anger and misery as he walked, still shaking, to were the dust still had to settle.
Everyone in the place stayed silence, wondering if there was someone capable of surviving such an attack. Well…after all the incredible things they had seen that day…
And then some gasped.
There, in the middle of a huge crater, stood the young Sorceress, her robes half-destroyed, her staff broken, and her cards slowly floating around her.
"Sakura!" Shaoran called her.
She turned to look at him and smiled for a second.
"Sha…o…ran…" she murmured before collapsing to the ground.