Author’s Note(A/N): Ok, this chapter was late. I’m sorry, I hope the next one will be on time.
Sakura was rescued from Altarrin along with Li and everyone else that was held prisoner. Then, Altarrin’s mansion is burned down by Candice and he summons tons and tons of creatures to destroy them. Shadow takes them and uses The Lock to keep the creatures out of the castle and they look through his library for stuff on defeating Altarrin. Now, the chapter:
by Shadowpheonix
“Shadow, come look at this,” Abner said, looking through a large encyclopedia of ancient mythology.
“What is it?” Shadow asked as he walked over to where Abner was standing.
“There seems to be something here about a horde of monsters that was commanded fifteen hundred years ago by an ancient king. It says that the king wielded powers unknown to most men and they cowered in fear before him. I wonder if this has anything to do with Altarrin,” Abner replied.
“Hmm… put it with the other books that we’ve found something in and let’s call it a day. We should all go get some lunch.”
“Alright,” Abner said, setting the book down on a table and walking out of the library.
“Sakura,” Shadow called, walking over to Sakura who had fallen asleep while reading.
“Huh?” Sakura said drowsily. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost time for lunch. Where did your friends Li and Tomoyo go?”
“I don’t know. They may have left after I fell asleep. I’m sorry, I’m just a bit tired.”
“It’s ok. It’s really not your fault. You’ve gone through quite a bit and you deserve your rest. Do you want me to bring you your lunch?” Shadow asked, smiling.
“Thanks Shadow. Umm… can I ask you a question?” Sakura asked, staring expectantly at Shadow.
“Sure.”
“Do you know why Altarrin wants me?”
“I have no idea. I’ll go get your lunch now,” Shadow said, turning to walk out the door.
Sakura sat alone in the library for a while, still extremely sleepy. The previous night, she had had only four hours of sleep, thought peaceful. Ever since she had awoken, something kept irritating her. Something resonated in the back of her mind. She walked over to a book entitled The Realms at War and began to read.
“Sakura!” came Tomoyo’s cheery voice from the library door.
Sakura jerked awake. “T-Tomoyo?” she asked.
“Sakura, you should get some rest if you’re that tired. What are you reading?”
“The Realms at War. I thought it would have something about Altarrin in it. Do you want to help me?” Sakura asked, turning to Tomoyo and giving her a warm smile.
“Sure,” Tomoyo replied and pulled up a chair to help Sakura.
The two of them searched through the book for a few minutes before Shadow appeared with Sakura’s lunch. “Here you go, Sakura.”
“Thank you, Shadow,” Sakura said, looking at the food in front of her. “Is this the same chicken I had the first day we met?”
“Yup. I decided to give you something you’ve had before. Did you want something else?”
“No, thanks for the meal,” Sakura replied, beginning to eat.
Tomoyo continued to read through the large book. Minutes later, she stumbled across a folded piece of parchment, old and torn at the ends. She unfolded it and attempted to read the lines of symbols on it. A moment later, Sakura finished her lunch and rejoined Tomoyo.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know. I just found it in the book. Do you understand any of these symbols?” Tomoyo replied.
“What symbols?” Shadow asked, suddenly in front of them.
The two girls leapt into the air. “These. I found them it in the book,” Tomoyo replied, handing Shadow the old, torn parchment.
Shadow took the parchment from Tomoyo and stared at it for a while. “Sakura, I need to speak with you alone,” Shadow said, walking out the door.
Sakura stared at Tomoyo fearfully for a while. Reluctantly, she followed Shadow out of the room. Sakura looked around as she left the room, unable to find Shadow. Where did he go?
“I’m right here!” Shadow called down the hallway near a candle. Sakura ran to catch up with Shadow. A few seconds later, Sakura caught up to Shadow. “Sakura, I don’t know how to tell you this. You…”
“What does it say?” Sakura asked curiously.
“I’ll read it to you,” Shadow replied and began:
From the depths of the dark,
The Spiritmaker shall rise.
From the depths of the dark,
He shall find his eyes.
From beyond the worlds,
There shall come forth our salvation.
From beyond the worlds,
Shall we alter our situation.
From this savior shall come,
Fierce magic unknown.
From this savior shall come,
Our salvation alone.
To prove the savior’s arrival,
Four signs shall be given.
To prove the savior’s arrival,
Find the Cards that are hidden.
Sakura stared blankly ahead of her for a while. “What does that have to do with me?” she finally asked.
“I’ll write it out for you in a bit. Just make sure you’re careful, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll be careful. Is there anything else?” Sakura asked.
“No, that’s all. I’ll see you later. I have something I need to do,” Shadow said, leading Sakura back to the library door.
Sakura walked in and found Tomoyo waiting for her. “What happened?” she asked as soon as Sakura appeared.
“He read what was on that piece of paper and told me to be careful. I’m not sure exactly what he means by it.”
“That’s all? I was afraid he might do something to you,” Tomoyo said, her eyes glistening with tears.
“It’s okay. I’m fine now,” Sakura replied, going back to The Realms at War. About an hour later, Tomoyo had left and she finished skimming through the book as Candice walked in, arguing with Shadow.
“I see no reason to stay here! We’ve already rescued Sakura. Let me out!” Candice demanded.
“If I let you out, I’d be letting monsters in. Also, you’d be risking your own life just going out there. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“Why do you care? I’m leaving if I have to tear down your castle to do it!” Candice shouted, wrapping herself in the Fire Sphere’s aura.
“Suit yourself,” Shadow said. “I don’t think you can get through my wall, but good luck.” Shadow walked over to Sakura to see how she was doing. “Did you find anything else?”
“You’re just going to ignore me? I’ll set your entire castle on fire!” Candice yelled.
Suddenly, the candles throughout the castle burst into flames. Seconds later, Shadow took out The Freeze from his deck of Cards and yelled, “Freeze!” Freeze leapt from its Card and stopped all the fires, encasing the candles in large blocks of ice.
“Stop it!” Sakura yelled, getting between Shadow and Candice. “We don’t need to fight.”
Candice shot a heated glance at Shadow before turning her back on him with a loud “Humph!” She walked out of the library and found her way back to her room.
“I haven’t found anything yet, Shadow. There was something in this book about a foreigner that was prophesized to come, wielding odd magic, and save the Realms from certain destruction. It said something about signs that would be given, but it wasn’t clear what they were,” Sakura said.
“Show me where it said that,” Shadow commanded, opening the book.
Sakura opened the book about halfway and showed Shadow what was written in the book.
During the war, it was prophesized by the prophet Cassandra that the Spirits would rise once again under their master. The master, according to her, would be unstoppable and could only be brought onto the world with the help of one not of the Realms. Also, the same person would be the salvation of our precious Realms and without her, we would be without hope. More importantly, signs are to be given pointing to this foreigner. First, she would find rectangular tablets and conjure from them, with her unique magic, different beings. Second, she would wield learn to wield the Power of one of the Realms. Third, she would be united with someone that had lost her earlier in life, and fourth, she would fight the Spiritmaker.
Shadow stared blankly at the words on the page. “Well, that’s interesting. You don’t have any clue what it means, do you?”
Sakura shook her head. “No, but I’m sure it has something to do with me.”
“I’ll tell you more some other day. Right now, I have something else I need to do. I’ll be back after a talk with Sigma.”
“Ok, I’ll see you later,” Sakura replied, going back to her table. Sakura rested her head on the table, suddenly very sleepy. Slowly, she fell into a deep sleep.
Sakura awoke an hour later with a jolt, suddenly feeling an odd presence nearby. What’s that? It feels like… like a mixture of Eriol’s magic and… Clow Cards… She quickly got up and ran to her room, the presence strengthening as she did so. “Kero!” she cried as she stepped through the door.
“What is it?” Kero asked, flying into the room behind her.
“Do you feel it? There’s this weird presence.”
“I do, but I have no clue what it is. I’ve never felt it before. It’s coming from above us,” Kero replied, looking very concerned.
“Let’s go,” Sakura said hurriedly, releasing her staff. Sakura found some stairs leading to the next floor and went up them, Kero following behind. She climbed two more flights of stairs and still the presence was above her. “Kero, what do you feel?”
“It’s weird. It seems to be a mix of Clow’s magic and someone or something else’s. I can’t tell you much more than that,” Kero said, frowning with worry.
Sakura kept silent, thought racing through her mind. What is it? she wondered, still unable to make out exactly what the presence was. Sakura climbed the last flight of stairs, and through a trap door, finding herself on the roof, battlements surrounding her. “Kero, look!” Sakura yelled.
In front of Sakura, two cards floated in the air. The first was bordered with a gold pattern of delicately woven leaves and branches. The picture on this card was that of a person shrouded in a black cloak and hood. From under the hood, two bright, red twinkling eyes stared at Sakura. Above the picture, where the large star would be on a Sakura Card, there was a fine circle, drawn half-gold and half-silver. The Card had no name and floated next to another card which had the same symbols, the same delicate lace of leaves and branches, but in silver, and still lacking a name. The picture of this other card was a bright, wavering oval, looking as if it would ripple when touched. The two cards shone brightly, chasing away some of the Dark Realm’s darkness.
“What are they?” Sakura asked Kero, not expecting an answer.
“I’m not sure. If they were made by Clow, he didn’t do it alone,” Kero replied, fascinated by the cards.
Sakura stepped forward, extending a hand to the two weird cards. She approached the golden one first, carefully taking it into her hands. She turned the card over, expecting to see a magic circle of sorts. On the back of the card was a large, silver oval, bordered by the same golden lace of leaves and branches. The rest of the rectangle comprised of seven different colors: red, brown, green, yellow, blue, black, and white, arranged in concentric oval bands.
Sakura took a step towards the other card, holding her hand out for it to gently float down into it. She turned this card around as well and saw the same design, but with inverted colors. A golden oval with silver lace, bordered by the same ovals, but in reverse order. Sakura stared at the two cards for a long while, turning them over and over in her hands. Kero landed on her shoulder and did the same, unsure what to make of them.
“What could they be?” Sakura asked herself aloud. “It’s like in my dream, but more colorful. They must do something!” Frustrated, Sakura took out her deck of Sakura Cards and attempted to put the two new cards with them. A few inches away, an unseen force pushed the new cards away from Sakura’s Cards, causing them to float away. Sakura put her Cards away and went back to the other two cards, picking them up off the floor.
“Be careful, Sakura. I feel a strong presence from those cards, whatever they are,” Kero cautioned, floating towards the cards. As Kero approached, the cards emitted a potent, golden aura, forcing Kero back and causing him to ram into one of the battlements.
“Kero!” Sakura yelled, putting the cards in her pocket and running towards the small bear.
“Owww,” Kero moaned, rubbing the back of his head. “It seems like they don’t like anything Clow made. Make sure you’re careful around them. I don’t think either me or Yue could help you if they decided to hurt you,” Kero said, still frowning worriedly.
Sakura picked Kero up and checked to see if he was hurt. Satisfied after three or four minutes, she let go and motioned for him to follow her back down the stairs.
“Let’s go,” Sakura said, walking back through the trap door and down the stairs. Kero followed after her, floating through the air and rubbing the back of his head. Suddenly, Sakura stopped walking and turned to Kero. “Kero, Shadow used the Lock Card to keep the monsters out,” Sakura said suddenly worried.
“Sakura, look out!” Kero yelled, changing forms to protect Sakura as a black pegasus flew up the stairs at her.
“Aaaaaahhh!” Sakura screamed, ducking beneath Keroberos as he unleashed a stream of fire at the pegasus. Behind the pegasus, a man clad in black armor appeared, thrusting out a hand and forming a shield around his pegasus.
“Good, you found them,” Altarrin said, advancing towards Sakura. “You are coming with me!” Altarrin waved his hand through the air and sent Keroberos flying through the stone wall and out of the castle.
“Kero!” Sakura yelled as Altarrin grabbed her and set her on the pegasus.
Suddenly, Shadow appeared behind Altarrin and sliced at him with his sword. Altarrin turned and saw the sword just as it penetrated his armor, leaving a deep gash and drawing blood.
“Aaaahh!” Altarrin screamed. “You will pay for that!”
Shadow quickly grabbed Sakura and took her down the stairs, dodging and slashing at monsters as he did so.
“We have to save Kero!” Sakura said, running behind Shadow.
“We’ll get to him later!” Shadow yelled, pulling Sakura along behind him.
The two of them arrived at the bottom of the stairs and immediately Li rushed over to Sakura. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Where’s Tomoyo and Meiling?”
“Shadow used Shield on them. Why didn’t you tell me he had Clow Cards?” Li asked, looking around warily.
“I forgot to. Li, take me to Meiling and Tomoyo.”
“Ok,” Li said, leading Sakura through a series of hallways before arriving in a small room where Meiling and Tomoyo were sitting, surrounded by Shield’s protective bubble.
“Sakura! Are you ok?” Tomoyo and Meiling asked when they saw her.
“I’m fine, are you?” Sakura replied, stepping into the bubble. Suddenly, the bubble disappeared and hordes of monsters appeared in the doorway. Li took out his sword and called on lightning to drive them back. Sakura recited her incantation to release her staff. “Release!” she yelled, expecting her staff to appear before her. She looked down into her palm and realized that she still held the Star Key and not a staff. “What’s going on?” she asked herself aloud. “Release!”
“Sakura, what’s wrong?” Li asked, looking over his shoulder as he called on his fire.
“I can’t release my staff!” Sakura yelled.
The monsters broke through the door and grabbed Li, Tomoyo, and Meiling. “Let me go!” Meiling yelled, kicking and screaming at the monsters.
“Never!” the sphienent carrying Meiling hissed, binding her feet together with one of its tentacles. Li turned to look at Meiling, hoping to help her in someway. Monsters rushed through the doorway, grabbing Tomoyo and knocking her out. A larger group approached Li, lashing at him with their various weapons, grabbing him, and knocking him out as well. The group of monsters surrounded Sakura, as if waiting for someone or something to come take her.
“You won’t escape me this time!” a voice hissed from the doorway. Altarrin stepped into view and grabbed Sakura, pulling her onto his pegasus. “Extalidor! Fly!” he yelled and took off down the hallway, his monsters following behind. “Leave the others, we have what we came for!” Altarrin said to the monsters behind him.
The three monsters carrying Li, Tomoyo, and Meiling threw them back into the room, knocking Meiling out.
Altarrin flew out a window, carrying Sakura, face down across his pegasus, with him and cackling evilly. “You’re mine now! When I get through with you, you’ll wish you were dead!”
Sakura stared up into Altarrin’s helmeted face. Two dark, soulless eyes stared back into hers, sending shivers down her spine. Sakura turned her head back down, searching the ground for Kero. She found him, lying motionless twenty feet from the castle and began to cry. “What do you want with me?” Sakura asked, not expecting an answer.
“You’ll find out soon enough!”
“Li, wake up!” Tomoyo yelled, shaking Li.
Li slowly woke up, rubbing his head and checking for blood. “Oww,” he complained, taking his hand away from his head and finding no blood. “Where’s Sakura?” Li asked frantically as he remembered what had happened.
“They took her,” Meiling replied. “Then they threw us back in here and left. That’s the last I remember.”
“We have to save her!” Li yelled, suddenly on his feet.
“Li, calm down. We don’t even know where she is,” Tomoyo said.
“Is everyone okay?” Shadow asked from the door, walking in.
“We’re all fine, but Sakura’s been captured! We have to go find her!”
“Li, I want to find her as much as you do, maybe even more, but we can’t just rush into this. We have to regroup before we can do anything,” Shadow replied, offering his hand to Li.
“Fine, but I’m not waiting long. Where’s everyone else?”
“They’re around somewhere. We’ll have to look for then before we do anything else.”
The three of them followed Shadow out of the room, searching for the rest of the rulers that had hopefully survived the assault.
“Shadow, why do you have Clow Cards?” Li asked, unable to remain quiet any longer.
“You’ll find out someday. Probably the same day Sakura finds out,” Shadow replied.
Li walked quietly behind Shadow, thinking of all the different possibilities that would allow for Shadow’s Clow Cards to exist. After a few minutes, they came upon Solana, riding Zephyr.
“Shadow, come help! Abner’s stuck!” she yelled as they approached.
Shadow walked over to Solana and saw Abner trapped between two pillars of stone that were, at one point, structural supports for the castle. Shadow continued to stare for awhile before deciding on the best way to get Abner out without causing the entire castle to collapse.
“Don’t just stand there!” Candice called from behind Abner.
“Hello Candice. I didn’t see you there,” Shadow said, pulling at the Dark energy that flowed through the Realm. He allowed a trickle of it to lift the pillar next to Abner, allowing Solana to help him up before Shadow replaced the pillar.
“Well, that’s three of you. Counting me, we have four of the rulers. Has anyone seen Eriol? I left Keroberos with Yue after getting him inside again, not that you can really call this inside anymore,” Shadow said, staring up at the hole in the ceiling. “But I have no idea where Spinel and Ruby are.”
“No, I haven’t seen him,” Solana replied, setting Abner down on a couch nearby. “What about Sigma, and Tyrell? I saw Matriana fighting some monsters during the raid. She was over there and doing pretty well, so I’m sure she won’t be too hard to find. Are we missing anyone else?”
“Well, we’re obviously missing Sakura,” Sigma said, supporting Tyrell as they walked through the front gate. “I saw Altarrin on his pegasus flying off with her. I guess we’ll have to go rescue her again. Is there any reason why he would want her?”
“I think there’s one,” Eriol said, suddenly appearing from the direction of the library, followed by Ruby and Spinel.
“Wait, don’t tell everyone until everyone is here,” Shadow said. “I’ll go look for Matriana.”
“Why do you need to look for me?” Matriana asked from above them, gently floating down a pillar of water.
“I don’t now. Ok Eriol, I’m sure you found the note I was writing to Sakura and you probably read the book that I left it on too.”
“I did. I think that Sakura is the legendary ‘savior of the Realms.’ It seems that during your previous war, a prophet, named Cassandra, prophesized that the creator of the Spirits would rise again. She also said that someone from another world would be the savior of the Realms and only through this person could the Realms be saved. What’s confusing, however, is it said that the savior would also be the cause of the despair. Also, four signs are to be given. First, she is to find rectangular tablets that she’d be able to conjure strange beings from. Second, she would learn to wield one of the Realms’ energies. Third, she would find someone that had lost her earlier in their life, and fourth, she would fight the ‘Spiritmaker.’”
“Yes, that’s what the prophecies said. If you don’t believe him, or me for that matter, it’s in the book The Realms at War. Anyhow, I also believe that Sakura is the prophesized foreign savior. Now that we’re all here, let’s follow after Sakura. I left a tracking device of sorts on Altarrin’s pegasus and he shouldn’t notice it. Does anyone object to this course of action?”
“No, we don’t, but there is one small, important thing you forgot to mention. SOME OF US ARE INJURED!” Candice yelled, motioning to Abner and Tyrell.
“It won’t take much to follow Sakura. Besides, I’m sure our wonderful Earth ruler with his wonderful herbs can mend their wounds in no time,” Shadow replied.
The eleven of them, along with Eriol’s guardians, set off to find Yue and Kero. They split into groups of two, excluding Sigma who went back to his Realm to gather herbs, and began to rummage through the castle to find anything that may prove useful on their journey. Tomoyo worked with Meiling, pulling her along to find Kero while Li and Shadow worked together. Eriol and Candice went to the rulers’ rooms to look for supplies and Abner stayed on the couch with Tyrell, talking about what they might do to pay Altarrin back when they found him again. Solana and Matriana worked together to find food for the party on their journey after Sakura and Altarrin.
An hour later, they all met back by the main gate and made sure that they had a large supply of everything. Sigma came back with a backpack full of herbs and began mixing different herbs together to mend wounds. Seconds later, Elaine came down the stairs to speak with Abner.
“Elaine, you have to go home. I’ll be back soon,” Abner said, hugging his child as she left for the Portal.
After another thirty minutes of rest, Shadow called them all to get ready to find Sakura. Shadow took out The Little and shrunk all the supplies until they needed them to make it easier to carry. “Well, let’s go,” Shadow said, giving each person a miniature backpack with supplies in it.
The large group set off, Solana riding Zephyr and everyone else walking. They all turned to Shadow who used energy from the Dark Realm to create a beam of energy, leading them straight to Sakura.
“Shadow, won’t Altarrin notice the large beam of Dark energy?” Solana asked as she realized what he was doing.
“Not until we’re right up beside him. The energy beam doesn’t go too far. By then, I’ll know and we’ll be ready. There’s just one thing I need to ask of you. We all have to be on our guard. If not, we may not get out alive.”
They all turned to him and nodded determinedly, ready to save Sakura. I will save you Sakura. I know I will! Li thought, right behind Shadow as they set out after Sakura.
Alright, this was an interesting chapter. So much for there only being a few chapters left. I don’t expect to randomly go to the next fic in the series in the middle of a giant battle, so it may be a while. Thoughts for you to ponder:
Shadow claims that he might want to find Sakura more than even Li. Is this even possible?
The prophecy says that Sakura will use the new cards, but obviously the cards don’t want to cooperate with her. I wonder how that will work…
The prophecy also states that Sakura will find someone that had lost her earlier in life. Hmmm… Who could that be…?
Challenge again:
Challenge to the readers: Here is a challenge for all you mystery fans: What's up with Shadow? Why does he claim to care so much about Sakura, but show it in such an odd way? What's does he really want with Sakura? Be the first to email me the correct answer to this question, and I’ll post your name at the end of the fic.