All warnings were given last chapter… please refer to it!
The Crow
(First Arc: The witch from another world)
(Part 01)
XxxxXxxxX
Dark blue eyes, with a silvery sheen stared back at him from behind thin framed glasses. A peaceful smile graced his thin, masculine lips even as he fought down a frown. A moment later, from behind his image in the mirror, another image formed.
"Yuuko" Clow called slowly, deep voice sounding clear and resonating like a northern wind.
'And so we meet again' He thought lightly, twisting down the string of predictions that always followed this particular person around. Their future is tied together so tightly it was inescapable.
"Clow" The voice of an old friend called out from the mirror, his reflection being superimposed by another's – that of a woman about his age, with slender limbs, Asian features and long, draping hair. Yuuko mirrored his smile with her own impish one. "It is good to see you"
"And I, you" He's known Yuuko for years now – she made a name for herself in the magical communities as a rare artifacts dealer, though her talents lay more toward divination like him. It was this that brought them together, and kept them together as lovers for a while. Now they were good friends despite the deep love she still felt for him – their romance was not one that's meant to be, however. "Is this just a social call?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Mismatched eyes, one blue, a shade lighter than his and another a molten gold. A familiar face on a different body. Inexperience and eagerness. Cursed powers, but this time Yuuko would be the one to guide – Clow fought down his powers once more, ignoring the rings of a name echoing nonstop – Watanuki Kimihiro – your possible descendant – and had to push back his mental lists of what meddling was necessary to make the boy's existence a reality.
Yuuko's lips twitched up, he could see in her wine colored eyes a hint of humor. "Oh my Clow, you must be losing your touch, it is rare that I have the opportunity to surprise you" She obviously knew something he didn't. Fact that was confirmed with what she said next. "Having any interesting dreams lately?"
He allowed a graceful tilt of his head in acknowledgement, Yuuko deserved that much. She's someone he could trust, he'd save her life one day and she needed him to do it for the great scheme of things. Not yet.
"Perhaps. Though I find myself quite unable to discern the meanings of my dreams as of late" More like they have been confusingly erratic. 'Not even the cards have yielded results' And he'd tried every bit of divination he could possibly devise without resorting to the shadiest means or sacrificing his already loose morals.
"I know… just as you know that there are no coincidences, only-"
"Fate" Clow muttered under his breath, Yuuko shot him a smirk for it.
"-Inevitability" She finished as if he hadn't interrupted, giving him a playfully reproachful look. "Whatever is in store for you, it is coming soon. You should prepare a room for it"
"I know how to play host, that is not all you wanted to say" He pointed out, smothering the sharp sting of irritation just as it rose. It would be no good to get frustrated over Yuuko's tendencies toward the dramatics. She's a witch, that's what she does. And she is giving advice for free, he'd not scorn the value of her words.
There is another witch in his life. Dark copper colored curls sliding through his fingers. He likes playing with her hair, the strands shone like blood under the sunlight. This witch belongs in the sunlight, as Cerberus likes reminding him often enough.
'It must be killing Yuuko inside...' Clow realized this. She had an idea about what his dreams were about, and they didn't fit Yuuko's ideals.
The beautiful woman's red painted lips widened into a mysterious grin. "You know me so well, Clow… I didn't see much, but what I saw is more than you will ever be able to, indeed"
"Why can't I see for my own?" He questioned, aware that if anyone had an answer it was the traveling witch.
"Don't be mistaken, old friend, I cannot see clearly either…no, not just us. I've been consulted by more than one family over what is coming, no diviner seem to grasp this oncoming event with precision" She divulged seriously, her eyes hard from behind the mirror's veil. "But I've been able to see that whatever it is, it is for you and you alone – be careful Clow. And prepare a room"
'Prepare a room. She's said that twice. So the oncoming event is a person and someone who will stay under my hospitality as well… Is this really happening?' The sorcerer wondered with a faint feeling of wonder 'Is there really something, someone, out there who I cannot see?'
"Thank you, Yuuko" He told her at last, letting his old friend scan his expression, blanking his face so no feeling would become apparent. The witch shot him an understanding glance, before closing the connection between them, his mirror showing him his reflex once more.
Ignoring his pale face – he's always been pale, and the way a few strands of hair escaped their confine at the back of his neck to frame his cat-like eyes, Clow stared deeply into his own image, trying to come to terms with his own feelings. Everything he's built and was preparing to build was a castle of cards, a gust of wind might make it all fall apart, and the joy he felt in his future daughter, Sakura, might crumble so very easily.
"You silly old sorcerer" He told himself. "Weather this storm like you did many others, you will not break in the face of adversity" His image uplifted, blue eyes with a silvery tint meeting their twins, and as he watched his image bloom with a warm, powerful and secretive smile, the sorcerer felt his confidence rising again, higher than ever.
He'd own his own future. It was his and no one else's.
'Please come soon my dearest guest, I shall be ready'
XxxxXxxxX
The day has come.
His magic was a wild thunderstorm, barely controllable through years of iron clad will – though ethereal winds still ruffled his robes, and light shined from behind his eyes. His voice carried a lot more power than usual, and his presence was heavier, headier, prompting his young students to keep a wide gap between them and him. His magic staff was a relief, weighting in his palms and keeping the brunt if his might in check, though the sun and the moon sparked sporadically as if trying to reach for an unknown thunder cloud.
The allure of his power was addicting, however, and Clow knew his most devoted sycophants would only be encouraged.
"Is something going on Teacher?" Dark blue eyes moved to the speaker. He smiled congenially, ignoring the cold bite of resentment that bloomed in his chest when his young cousin – or was it niece? – stiffened and blushed under his gaze. She felt like prey, he felt like he owed her something.
'Xiao Ling Li's grandfather is my cousin' Clow reminded himself stoically 'It is likely he will come to me with a marriage proposal, offering Xiao Ling as a bride to the big bad wolf'
Magic snaked under his fingertips, reality bending, worlds coming unbound or being created – so many possibilities sprawled open before him. Clow smiled once more, a glint of something in his eyes that spoke of mischief and other things. Xiao Ling tried to hide her fear and lust, she was very successful.
"Nothing at all Miss Li" He assured lightly, eyes still monitoring the progress of the storm still so far away through an open window. "You and your colleagues are welcome to spend the day in my library, I've let the servants know to serve you all a cup of tea"
They were, of course, being eavesdropped by said colleagues, fellow young – or not – mages who'd come for a week or two and leave when it became clear the sorcerer would never humor their true intentions.
"What about you, sir?" His niece/cousin/student asked with an earnest look in her eyes. It was difficult to measure to what extent her fear ended and where the love began. "Will you join us?"
"No, I am afraid I am needed elsewhere" Clow declined, making his voice low and polite, observing how Xiao Ling wanted to protest but wouldn't.
'Better get going… Where should I welcome my guest? Northern wing with the others or closest to me?' Clow dismissed his students and continued on his path to the foyer 'Not yet. I shall decide when I meet them' He decided with content oozing out of him in little colorful waves.
The biggest boom someone gifted with advanced prescience such as him could ask for is something they can't see. Clow Reed knows how, when, where, with whom and why he will die. He knows how many times his soul will split and knows how many children his line will carry. He knows what people will say before they say it, and know how everything will end – from books, to plots and schemes to love.
'Wait and see' He thought to himself with glee. How many centuries has he waited for a moment like this knowing absolutely that it wasn't going to happen… Only to be blindsided for once in his life.
Wait and see sounded about just right.
The day was growing darker as it came along, though the sun was barely at its zenith.
Midday, not so much a magical hour – not as significant as dawn or dusk, or the time the first star became visible – and as a patron of his magic, the Sun belonged to Clow anyway. None of it mattered though, the sun was being completely hidden by a thickening, curling mass of angry looking clouds, rolling and thundering into a brewing storm that promised to ravish his fields with an unrelenting torrent of water.
All his servants and students were already sheltered inside the protected mansion, all but him, the one leaving the security and heading outside. The storm was calling for him, he'd answer its call with a storm of his own.
'Come to me, descend from the heavens and into my awaiting arms' Clow extended ethereal arms up to the clouds in a greeting of forces that clashed and battled, until he receded in contented wait.
The rain started as a thin wet curtain, but as he neared the center of his courtyard, it picked up strength and the curtain became a wall made of water – untouched, for his own mastery over the elements, Clow pressed forward ignoring the angry currents save for the whipping winds trying to lift his robes and hair – until he was standing at the eye of the storm.
'Wait and see'
A single lightning bolt descended the heavens, parting the rain and spreading light and noise enough to deafen a common man… no element could touch him, however, his magic made a mantle of dark colored power around his form, raising his hair from its passive position over his shoulder and welcoming the electric strike.
A weight settled in his arms, he moved almost unconsciously to tighten his protective hold on whatever was left in his care in the wake of the light – as soon as the lighting was done connecting sky and earth with him as the between, he could finally see.
And the first thing he saw was a pair of startled green eyes.
His future, one he couldn't seem to grasp, reflected along the mad turbulent skies was staring at him from those eyes.
'Beautiful'
He smiled the closed eyelid smile that never failed to transmit a fair share of mysteriousness. They connected instantly. Like to puzzle pieces coming together, or perhaps polarized ends of a magnet meeting for the first time.
Clow Reed suddenly saw his future. Filled with laugher, happiness and light. He wanted to reach for it with the desperate need of a thirsty man in the middle of a desert, longing for water.
The owner of those eyes was young, on the cusp of womanhood, body delicate and bird-like – but the magic surging underneath her skin was absolutely intoxicating – like the lightning still bolting through the skies. Her scared little face was angled toward him, his arms were like vices holding his prize to his chest, burying the young woman inside his robes so she'd be impervious to the rain, his long raven colored hair, now unbound, framed their faces as he focused solely on her.
She had no idea how dangerous his focus is. 'She will learn, she will learn everything and more, and we will learn together'
"What… who are you…?" She spoke English, accent carrying a small, foreign trace. The energies coalescing around them were like guidelines, telling him stories about his precious guest… She's foreign, not of this world – but she'd soon belong in his.
Before the panic brewing inside her chest had a chance to truly come unbound, Clow shifted, freeing his left arm and carrying her by tucking her weight on his right elbow, leaving uncovered legs to curl entirely around his torso. With his free hand, he brushed her dark colored fringe apart from her forehead – revealing a fascinating mark upon her skin - while whispering a sleeping spell.
"All will be answered soon, precious one, sleep for now"
Darkened green eyes closed slowly as she fought to stay conscious, but Clow willed her to sleep, to trust he'd keep her safe. He could feel their very souls reaching out, figurative hands outstretched and desperate for completion of a bond he's still learning to navigate about.
'Wait and see' He mentally repeated happily, darkness curling lovingly around the bottom of his robes, touching the dainty feet and clinging to her skin.
XxxxXxxxX
"I want a room cleared for her in the western wing, beside my own quarters" His personal area of the mansion, inaccessible to the students and followers after his power and prestige.
The servant in front of him nodded, bowing his head. "My lord, should I also call a maid?"
John Evington – faded blue eyes and brown hair, clever faced, eager boy Clow Reed rescued from an impoverished London street in early 1800's. The sorcerer brought the boy into his mansion and put him under his butler's wings. A couple of decades later and John Evington is the newest Reed butler, keeping his master's trust despite his solid religious belief.
'Commendable, considering the amount of unholy things he's seen me do over the years' The sorcerer wondered fondly, meeting his faithful servant's eyes and smiling benignly.
"Do so… I want her feeling at home by sundown today, she should be waking up soon" Clow thought he'd be quite able to care for his guest, but perhaps propriety should dictate more of his actions than just passion and possessiveness.
John nodded as was expected, bowing before straightening his back to follow orders.
The servant left with a last "Yes my lord" leaving Clow holding his precious prize amidst the curiosity of his students. He smiled genially at his audience, making sure that none of his newest guest' skin was exposed to hungry, curious eyes.
"As of today, I have chosen my apprentice. Do not worry, I will continue to aid in your own studies" He announced almost innocently as an afterthought, his lips curling into a more mischief filled smile as waves upon waves of frustrated anger hit him.
'I wonder how many of them will leave this following week, and how many of them will persist until realizing it is futile to part me from my precious little gift' And a darker side of his mind also wondered how many of them would plot to have his gift erased permanently from the picture… Now is the time the disadvantage from being caught unaware of the future would reel its ugly head.
'The bad comes with the good, and the good will forever justify the bad as long as we are happy'
"But teacher… who is she?" Xiao Ling Li asked wearily, her voice echoed a couple times more by frustrated and angered students.
If it wasn't for the fear and power lust battling for control inside the young woman's heart, he'd consider her grandfather's proposal to have her as a wife. She was a powerful and intelligent young woman, and being closer to the Li family, his mother's family, would offer an extra blanket of protection for him – not that he needed it – but it would also mean he'd be undoubtedly chosen as next clan head, even being a 'half-blood' son of their line.
He's seen the future. He marries into the Li family a decade before the turn of the century, moving to the Asian continent and having two sons. One of them is chosen as next clan head – that ends with Xiao Lang Li, while the youngest travels to Japan. His youngest son would have two daughters and a son of his own. His granddaughter marries Kinomoto Touya, and that predictable line ends with little Sakura. His grandsons would travel around, one of them ends birthing the line of Watanuki Kimihiro while the other dies young.
Now, his future is as uncertain as can be, and Clow Reed loves the anonymity.
'As it is' The frank frustration now obscuring all other emotions in Xiao Ling's eyes was quite amusing 'I am sorry to say any marriage is forgone whatsoever in this old sorcerer's future if it isn't with my little gift'
Charlotte Dubois, another of his pestering 'students' raised a hand, not even waiting for a go ahead before speaking. "Was that the reason you went in the storm?" She received an elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Xiao Ling.
His smile turned tender as his eyes slid from his students to his magically slumbering, precious guest "All in good time, my students… she is quite obviously tired from her long travel here, you can get to know my apprentice at a later, convenient hour"
With a last parting smile to his still protesting students, Clow retired to his quarters.
XxxxXxxxX
TBC!