Hello again. I'm dropping off another chapter as I trudge along studying for exams. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Maybe because I get this break.
As you delve into this story take notes. I'm kidding. The last thing you want to do is take notes. Just relax, enjoy and review. Even though this might not be a very relaxing read. It's exciting.
"Chapter 9"
Bells. The chiming of sweet bells clearly splitting the horror and pain from my body was a boon to my entire being. I felt the tension fall from me and I felt the ring of fire withdraw from my neck. All the normality returned due to the convivial jingle of bells. In this dream, I was turning from the enemy to follow the song of that lovely sound. I tried to blink away the tears that had fallen in my battle for life, so I could stare at the sole person ringing the bells for me. Who was it? I got a glimpse of an indistinct shadow under the curve of the roof. Garments fluttering in the night breeze and two ribbons of silk streaming under the glittering gold bells held in the outline of hands were the only things distinctive I could pick out. Then the tide of wakefulness took over and I was lying on my back, staring up at the plastered ceiling.
When I woke I respired for a while, too stunned to move from my position. I probably laid there for another hour before I actually got off my back. What got me up was someone knocking on my door. At first it was soft and slow, but then it gradually grew insistent. After the third consecutive sequence of knocks, I sensed the person was going to break down the door if I did not answer. Kero complaining for me to answer the door probably was the extra spice to get my limbs moving.
I had my wrap halfway up my shoulders when I went to answer my door. I met with a disheveled governor on the other side.
For a tenth of a second I thought I noticed the surprised look on his face. It must have vanished when he saw that the door was opening for him. "We have reached the peek of the holiday. Now is the best time to prepare for our journey to Heaven Pagoda. I wanted to let you know that you should be ready by noon."
I glanced behind me out the window. I still wasn't sure how to tell time by looking at the height of the sun on the horizon. I tended to ask people around what time it was to get things done on time. Here in China, people lived like spiritual soothsayers even though most of the people didn't have magical abilities. I figured, when you didn't have the trappings of modern day technology and advancements to distract you, you get a lot more out of daily routines and work in general. You didn't have to be magically oriented to have a magical creature tagging along although in most cases, that was the case. There were times when I went out and I sensed other sorts of wizardry—other than the Clow Cards—that were of the minute kind of magic. Kero was always telling me that the best of the sorcerers knew other sorcerers just by feeling their magic. The more Clow magic I sealed the more control I'd have over this sixth sense for finding other magicians like Syaoran or myself. No one was stronger than Syaoran; not even myself, but if I said that to Kero that might earn me more hardcore history lessons I could not bare anymore of. The little Sun Guardian was always speaking of "Mastery of the Stars" required mastery of the history that has been written by the stars. This stuff was more mystical than fraudulent. However, I declare that it was more humdrum than stimulating. I took the lessons and sometimes Touya pitched in by throwing in political nonsense essays. They were all in Kanji and some of them were in calligraphy-style Chinese which took tedious amounts of time to translate. I should have never told them or shown them that I could read their native language.
Touya was handing me a few worn scrolls that he wanted me to look over if I had time while he stood staring at me in my rumpled form. I wasn't going to tell him that I would purposefully take my innocent time packing instead of pouring my blunt mind over such boring work. It was at this moment that I took notice of the puzzled expression on his face.
"What?"
He studied my face. "Were you here all morning?"
I made an annoyed face at him. "The only way to get me out of bed that early is if there's something grandiose going on. Or a Clow Card sighting."
He dropped the face and looked pleased at my answer. "Good. It just sounded so unlikely for you to be knocking things over at the rice store earlier this morning; must be some lowly trick by an admirer who wants your attention."
I shook my head. "I wouldn't be doing something like that anytime of the day."
"Yes, I told that to the store manager who came to the house to file the complaint. Maybe you should look into it?"
I gazed around me again and noticed Kero coming out of his shelf. He was still very groggy eyed.
"Change first," Touya added with this stern scowl on his face.
"I don't need you telling me, Old Man." I shirked his comeback by slamming the door in his face.
Tomoyo and I went to the tea house just a street away from home after we both finished packing. We were always given the seat right on the veranda, so we could get a perfect view of the town. I discovered that this was my favorite establishment in all of De Ding and probably in all of China. We were enjoying the weather and drinking tea as usual when I noticed a storm cloud of sand passing by the view we were enjoying. The next thing that I saw had me spitting tea to the side and choking on the leftover droplets in my esophagus. Tomoyo was on her feet in an instant to slap me on the back several times.
I still could not get that picture that had flown through our viewing spot out of my mind. I recognized the smirk. I recognized the essentials such as the eye color and hair color. Heck, I recognized the build of the character. The hair color was red and the eye color was green. The smirk she wore was one of the savage sort, I could never see myself expressing unless someone got me in tight knots, but that runner that left a trail of dust in front and behind her was undoubtedly me.
I had already brushed aside Tomoyo's worried hands and gotten out of my chair to jump over the balustrade that blockaded the tea house from the outside when a group of sniveling ten-year-olds came up to me. Two of them bowled me over when they slammed into me. They continued crying into my skirt as the other wailing children circled us.
"Why Clow Mistress Sakura?" One of them asked me. I cupped a hand over his head.
"Why did you knock down all the almond candies we made to sell at the festival?" The second one clinging to my thigh finished on a high note. I stroked her little head and apologized to the lot of them for something I did not do. When you were just too shocked to do anything but to apologize for someone else's faults, you manage. I was stunned stupid because I had never seen so many children cry because of me. Syaoran was going to call me stupid again for this little heartfelt act of mine.
"Children, Sakura has been with me the whole time," Tomoyo said as she leaned on the banister, too refined to jump over it as I had. When Tomoyo got their attention, she pointed to our two cups of tea. "See?"
"Then, who was that person that looked like Sakura?" They asked in unison.
I wanted to know the answer to that question myself, so I left the children with Tomoyo and followed the tracks of the imposter. Meanwhile I kept asking myself, what was I dealing with here today? Who was disguising him or herself as me to wreak such havoc on my reputation? Were these hateful actions committed to harm even though they're just petty crimes? What should I do? I kept running these questions in my mind, but I only met a dead end to my doppelganger's tracks.
I just ended up back in my room. Kero buzzed in my ear as he flew back and forth behind me. "You're on the right track. This doppelganger's out to ruin your reputation and make the people distrust you."
"Was it actually a Clow Card?"
Kero stopped and hovered in a sitting position just in front of my line of vision. "Smart girl! I wouldn't rule that one out either."
"The Clow Cards I've met so far have directly attacked me."
"That's because they all know you," he cut in.
"If it was a Clow Card it should have directly attacked me. Why injure my integrity?"
"Your integrity also means something to you," he stated simply.
"These guys… They know me so well," I said, reaching for my cards that I had left on the bed upon my return to base. I took them and aligned them on the floor. "They are clever enough to hurt me in other ways that aren't physically abusive to my person."
"You are suggesting emotional pain," Kero said thoughtfully.
"Correct." I suddenly shot to my feet as if lightning had just struck me. I stared earnestly into Kero's face. "Where's Tomoyo?"
"She came home before you did. She went to her room to rest before the journey. You don't think the card might attack Tomoyo, do you?"
I thought a lot of things. I thought Tomoyo, Kero, Touya, or Syaoran could be in immediate danger. I couldn't put it pass a Clow Card that it wouldn't attack close to home where I was around. Well, at least I have enough time to spring into action if the Clow Card did target someone nearby.
I faced the cards I set by my feet and chanted; "Oh, Power of the Clow Cards, answer my question." I closed my eyes and flipped the card that glowed in the center of the arrangement. As I picked it up to turn it over I told Kero, "This card tells us about the present danger we have to face."
Kero stared vacantly at The Flower. For a minute I believe I shared the same expression, but then it all changed when I felt something soft brush my forehead. A small peach blossom caught in the tangle of my bangs. I drew it out and stared at it. A thought hit me, then, so I hurried out of my room and slammed through Tomoyo's door. Indeed she was getting ready for a quick nap.
She let out a startled gasp as I puckered my brow at her. "What's happened?"
Before she could finish, I abruptly asked her, "Where's Touya?"
"He went to get the coaches ready. What's this?"
"Stables?" I queried.
She nodded.
I snapped my fingers and rushed over to the stables. I could hear my companions close behind me. By the time I was at the stables and unfortunately glaring in frustration at the stable hand as well as grilling him, I knew I was already too late. The absence of the Governor meant more than what the man who groomed the horses had to say.
"Why, Clow Mistress, he was just with you and you left together."
Dread took over, then. "The Governor's in danger."
I raced to Touya's aid, suddenly motivated by a hidden oomph I managed out of thin air. I somehow overlooked the vexation to follow the sense of the unknown Clow Card that was several moves ahead of me. I was flying without wings, acting without thought.
"Sakura, look out!" Tomoyo seized my elbow and at the same time I braced the heels of my feet over a cliff ledge. Now that we had all stopped in the nick of time to catch our breaths Tomoyo leisurely plucked at the brambles and leaves that were caught in my hair and clothes. She looked pretty wild herself, but I didn't pay too much attention to that. I was staring down the cliff, shifting my weight to better see. Tomoyo's nails dug deep into my arm.
I gazed fearfully, heart in my throat, blood throbbing in my head, and terrible atrophy in my major limbs. I saw Touya in the company of a young lady who looked exactly like me. At first, I thought he was unconscious with the way he looked. The Governor was a wrinkled mess with a dreadful bloody head wound on his forehead. He was leaning sideways on the wall at the bottom of the cliff as he turned to the person who looked like me.
I thought I heard him say, "I won't leave you alone. I want to help you."
I couldn't hear or see her response to him. Since I couldn't hold myself back anymore I leapt from where I was.
I heard Tomoyo scream at me as I plummeted. At the last minute, The Windy picked me up and placed me gently on the ground several yards away from the two. It took me one closer look at Touya to get me in a whirl of rage. "What have you done?" I cried and at the same time brought the power of Windy on the perpetrator of Touya's injuries. She stood stone still with a look of remorse on her drawn face as the wind plucked and pecked at her ephemeral clothes. "Why did you hurt him?"
She turned to Touya and apologized. Then she turned to me and also said, "I'm sorry."
I held my wand out in front of me, the pointy end trained on her magical being, and I marched toward the Clow Card. "He's done nothing to you," I said, unable to withhold the brokenness in my voice. I was so emotional it was quite unbearable to see. I didn't feel as controlled as the times I fought the other Clow Cards.
"It's okay. I'm fine," Touya murmured before succumbing to a faint.
Now, The Card ambled towards me matching her gait to mine. We both stopped at an arm's length. At that close distance it was outright apparent that sorrow and regret consumed her. I hoped she saw my anger, worry, and love all at once. They were all for my brother, of course, as her self-consuming feelings were all for Touya as well.
I tenaciously squeezed my wand between both hands as I stared back at her. She imitated my gesture. Slightly peeved by the copycat, I took a half-step back. She also took a half-step back.
"Stop that," I said.
She repeated what I said.
"Quit mirroring me in every way!"
She paused in all her familiar actions and just smiled at me. My eyes widened as I came to a realization. Without another moment's hesitation, I swung the wand in a downward arc and chanted, "I, Sakura, command you to return to your original form. Mirror."
She lifted her chest as if to heave a sigh of relief. Her disguise fell and she looked like what she was supposed to look like. In her true form she looked to be about my age, except she was more baby-faced. Her hair was darker than mine and much, much longer. Her eyes were pale and, I must add, sweet. Staring into those pale pink eyes I was reminded of cotton candy. I felt my head float away for a moment.
"Sakura, do it now," Kero shouted somewhere from behind us.
I snapped my head to attention, "Okay, now return to your power confined, Mirror!"
Just before the magic of my wand rendered her in her card form, she half turned to kiss Touya on the forehead. Soon I was hugging her card to my chest and kneeling before an unconscious Touya. I felt the assuaging of my consternation, knowing that he was alive and breathing. Still, I was on the verge of breaking down and shaking him. I did neither of those things, but gave him a fast hug, rubbing my wet eyes over the front of his robe. "God, Touya. You're such a buffoon, but… I'm just happy to see you alive."
