"Chapter 10"
The air sizzled with the power of The Thunder. In its original form it was a large wolf with a powerful body of impressive size. All its muscles were made of sheer electrical energy. I did believe that within a five mile radius you could very much feel the energy whether you were magical or not. When it roared, it gave off a crackle that left the hairs on the back of my neck standing. It also had the ability to gather matter and transform it into energy that it could control and redirect; electricity.
The area was deserted except for me and The Sun Guardian Kerberos. I had to climb up a tree in the strangest manner without the use of any magic to get to higher ground. That was not the smart thing to do if one did not want to get struck by lightning. In my case, I was trying very hard to attract the Clow Card who, in my opinion, was the God of Thunder.
I felt the branches bending with the strain of holding me up. My hands burned against the roughness of bark as I found the right purchases here and there. I heard The Thunder roaring from behind me. I turned my head and saw it soaring at me, blinding jaws and brightened claws poised to rip me to shreds if it didn't manage to electrify me first. I gave a resounding shout as I jumped the other way, twisting in the air to face the Clow Card that should have scared the stuffing out of me. It didn't scare me that way.
Staring at a bright wolf was like staring too long at the sun, but I couldn't blink if I was going to catch The Thunder. I reached behind me where I had tucked my wand under the back of my robe. With my body floating in midair I swung and struck the wand at the creature of electricity. I felt the pulse of force unlike any other I had experienced in the absence of parading gusts, vibrant colors, and other sorts of voodoo that told powerful magic in Clow Cards. The energy shocked me when it vibrated through my staff and ended somewhere inside me. It was a current dimming to a speck within me. I wish I could tell you where, but I was kind of too numbed by the strength of this guy to focus really where I experienced the stimulating shock.
I landed ungracefully on my bottom and tossed the rest of me on my back. I was completely prone as I looked up at Kero.
"You looked plain foolish not utilizing your magic much in catching the thing, I regret telling you," he said.
"Don't try to steal my thunder," I said, flapping The Thunder in his face.
He grimaced at my pun and gave me a moment to gather myself before we headed back.
We were delayed from our long journey for good reasons. First of all, Touya had to gather his wits about him and recover from the previous Clow Card attack. Second of all, I had to stick around to capture The Thunder. I was both alarmed and annoyed when I had to face a disgruntled Touya in my muddy clothes and frizzy hair by the time Kero and I got back to the Governor's house.
"We leave at once when you have properly groomed and dressed yourself," he said in his stately manners, but I was not mistaken that he was still very tired.
"Why the hurry?"
"We have delayed long enough. We were supposed to be at the Heaven Pagoda by evening today. Now, we can't be on time even if we started right away. You're belongings have already been brought to your carriage. You will be riding with Tomoyo, Kero, and two attendants. I will be riding behind with Official Zen, my attendant, and two footmen. Make haste," he said.
I turned away grumbling under my breath. I was grumbling because I much preferred traveling today instead of yesterday. If it were possible, I wanted to leave a lot later just to beat the crowds that had massed over the last few days of festivities. According to Tomoyo, though, the throngs out there now were nothing compared to yesterday. Ha, I saw no significant difference in the number of heads out there. Weren't we going to be standing out anyway in our horse-drawn carriages when most everyone else was going to be on their feet?
"No, there will be plenty traveling around town on horses, carriages, and so-on. We will blend right in," Tomoyo answered me.
I complained incessantly, "He's not completely healthy and ready for travel."
Tomoyo grinned. "You need not worry. Master Wei Fong will do his utmost best to rid the pain and scars on our Governor. Why do you insist on staying behind? This trip is meant for you, Sakura."
"I get antsy being passed around and… I don't like the vibe I'm getting these days whenever you guys talk about this Wei Fong fellow."
"You're scared!" She exclaimed sharply.
I didn't retort because, of course, I was. My sixth sense showed nothing but grueling presentiment. It took a lot of my forbearance to ignore it sometimes.
"No way, but forward," Tomoyo added.
I winced.
"Syaoran's probably ahead of us. He likes to turn everything Touya does into some sort of competition."
I threw my head back and looked her way. "He's there?"
"Do you want to see him?"
I got up in a rush. "Yes, let's go!" I felt a renewed vigor that had been dampened by the pressure of stress. If you were actually describing the way a robot works, I went from apathetic to eager with the press of a button, really.
If I recollect correctly as I do recollect most of the eventful moments in Ancient China as clearly as anything else I could recollect, by nightfall we stopped in our journey at an inn called, "Little Treasures Inn." I remember the name because it was as homey as it sounded. Two sisters managed the establishment and I wouldn't ever forget them or their kindness that was neither awkward nor harrowing for me. I was their equal and I was their sister, too.
They helped Touya settle in his room, while Tomoyo and I helped ourselves into a room we wanted to share together. Their unwavering hospitality was astounding. They went beyond the border of awesome service, so I knew there was something amiss.
Okay, there wasn't something ugly amiss. It was actually something quite beautiful. No one, not even a person as blind as me with a stigmatism could miss seeing that their utter respect for Tomoyo and I stemmed from the core of deference they had for Governor Touya.
I received a little bit of secret information from them and put it under lock and key in my heart. Surprisingly and wittingly I learned a secret without forfeiting Touya's confidence for them. Let me tell you how it happened.
I consulted them at the bar when it was late and I knew Touya and Tomoyo were fast asleep. I was having a cup of something mead-like, but not mead and only some kind of herbal concoction, which was astonishingly delicious. They were standing behind the bar and waiting on me. I was fascinated by their docile characters which mirrored each other to the line.
Asa said, "Lady Sakura, it will not do for you to ask us such a question when Governor Touya and Lady Tomoyo wish us not to speak of the dreary past." I could almost catch her saying, "…. A dreary past carrying on to the present," by studying the expression of remission on her troubled face.
Ana, the younger sister said, "However, Governor Touya and Lady Tomoyo had never opposed of us telling you that the Governor helped save our lives."
"Oh, but he saved many lives," Asa added.
"How?" I asked.
"The way that a ruler should. He built De Ding and welcomed anyone who wanted a part of it," Asa answered carefully without really answering. "There were no questions, just total acceptance and trust."
"When a man honors his promises he wins the trust of his followers. Not many men have such virtues. De Ding is vast, expanding from the Governor's House to the wall of the forests many miles away right before it reaches Heaven Pagoda. It grew from a little town to a great land. You may hear some exaggerate and say that De Ding was built in a day," Ana said with glittering eyes. The light in her eyes gradually diminished as she remembered something terrible. "The cost of this land's peace was heartache for our leader."
"Ana, no," Asa snapped. "That's enough."
"Sorry," Ana whispered.
"You're a godsend, Lady Sakura. You bring joy to Governor Touya, so you bring joy to all of us," Asa said.
I blushed as red as a lobster. It's not attractive at all. I've seen my reflection when I'm embarrassed a million times over to appraise this.
"Best of all you bring hope to him and thus, to us," Asa said, smiling sweetly at me. "There's a history in China and in ourselves that's not worth digging up, Clow Mistress, so please do not ask us to dispel more than we have already."
I honored their request and remained silent after that. When the sisters noticed that I was not up for sleep, the younger offered me something in her conspiratorial tone. "There's something I wish to show you."
I leaned in. "What is it?"
"The last Governor entrusted it to us before he died. We should give it to Governor Touya, but he trusted us not to. We must honor his father who also aided us and our parents," Ana said, the crease between her brows intensifying.
With reluctance I said, "Maybe you shouldn't show me this."
"No," Ana said quickly. "We must. He said that the Clow Mistress would be born someday and we would have to give her this present."
I felt eerily uncomfortable as an idea dawned on me. "Was the last Governor a sorcerer?"
Asa turned from her task of shining the glasses to join in the conversation. "Not that we know of. He had a way with words and he was always discreetly hinting at some magical talent. It was a known fact that the magical talent actually ran in his wife's blood-line." She looked at her sister pointedly, "So, what are you waiting for?"
Ana sprung like a rabbit and disappeared behind the door that must have closed on the sisters' living area. When she returned, she carried with her a medium-sized jewelry box. It was simple enough. It was a wooden box with a lock on it. Was I supposed to break into the thing?
"The Governor told us when it was time you would come and open it," Ana said, pushing the box across the bar towards me.
"Is there a key for the lock?" I asked. I didn't want to force the lock open in case I broke it. They both shook their heads in dismay. "Didn't he leave some sort of message for me, like…? Instructions on how to open it?"
They shook their heads and at that point any sudden noise, as familiar as it was, would have spooked me. Though, the sisters didn't almost have a heart attack with Kero jumping out from behind one of the beer kegs in the back, I thought I was having both a heart attack and a seizure.
"The box has a strong magic lock. It's Clow Magic," Kero stated as he flew between the sisters and hovered over the jewelry box. I was glaring daggers at him as he continued, "What? I was hiding out for a couple of minutes. You know, you should have been a bit more tactful if you wanted to roam around in the middle of the night without getting noticed."
"It's not like I'm wandering outside the inn," I grumbled. "Don't you limit me to boundaries, too, Kero."
"Never! You are the next greatest sorceress of all time. I have no power to do something like that. Now… What are you to do about this Clow Magic?"
I looked at the sisters, who both shrugged. Like most Chinese, they knew the legend of Clow Reed, I supposed, but they weren't magicians and they knew even less about Clow Cards.
I said plainly, "Anything so heavily locked must be very important."
"Ah-ha! I remember," Kero said, "this one protects the most precious items to Clow Reed. He used it to shield all his treasures. Odd, though… How did the Governor manage to lock it with Clow's card? Wasn't it supposed to be in the Clow Book?"
"Maybe it has been left unsealed for the past century right after Clow Reed died," I suggested.
"That doesn't explain how anyone, but you could, make use of the magic," Kero replied with the furrowing of his brows.
"There's a reason to every man's madness."
"Master Clow Reed was not mad!" Kero stated stoutly, defending his past master.
"That's not what I meant. The expression suggests that there is an end to a mean," I shot back. Then, I gestured to the box, "What opens a lock spell that was made over a hundred years ago?"
"The Shield opens with The Sword," Kero said.
Of course. That would do it. And that was exactly how I unlocked the box and restored The Shield to its card form.
Our four heads hung over the box, whose lid stood ajar. It was tempting to look and behold secrets of the past.
Asa and Ana finally looked away from the contents of the box to stare at me expectantly. Kero was the one who actually spoke what was on all their minds, "Take them, Sakura."
So, there were two items in there. One was a white reticule and the other was a pink pouch the size of my fist. I opened the reticule first to show everyone that a sweet smelling bouquet was in there, the flowers still fresh and alive. Then, I opened the pouch and pulled out a bracelet that had silvers moons, suns, and stars that jingled. Kero took one look at it and sniffed. "I sense a spell of some sort. It doesn't seem harmful," Kero said slowly. He sniffed at it again. "You should be rid of it just in case."
"Yes," I murmured even though I did the opposite of Kero's wish. That was the first time my gut overruled Kerberos's theory. As my guardian scuffled with drowsiness and headed for bed, I slipped the pink pouch containing the bracelet in the white reticule. Now, both the bouquet and the bracelet were together. Anything that the last governor would leave behind must have some sort of significant impact. I mean, how did he know I would come here to retrieve his gifts?
Hello, all my awesome readers! I'm making the story more intriguing by adding a taste of mystery. Let me know what you think.
MW
