Author’s Note (A/N): Another late chapter. Apologies at the end.
A prophecy is revealed. Later, Sakura finds her way up to the roof of Shadow’s castle. There, she finds glowing cards, one silver, one gold, that seem to dislike Kero. Anyhow, she gets captured by Altarrin, again, and now the gang goes to hopefully save her.
by Shadowpheonix
“Li, there’s no use in worrying about Sakura. We’ll find her soon. Altarrin’s only about a mile off now,” Shadow said, attempting to comfort Li.
“I know. I’m sure she’ll be ok,” Li replied.
The rulers, Li, and the rest of the group continued on, not saying much else until Shadow suddenly stopped them.
“We’re very close now. He hasn’t moved for the past hour or so. He should be in that forest, over there,” Shadow said, pointing to a dark forest in front of them. “If we’re going to do anything, we’ll have to quietly sneak up on him. I’ll go first, followed by Li. The rest of you come quietly after me and be prepared to attack him with everything you have. Make sure you hide your presence from him,” Shadow whispered, motioning for Li to follow him as he quietly stepped into the forest.
The giant trees of the forest surrounded them and dead twigs and leaves lay on the ground, crunching as they walked. Slowly, quietly, they made their way closer to Altarrin until they heard someone speaking in a quiet voice.
“But Altarrin, we can’t just do that now. You remember, we have to wait until the Spirit’s Rings all align before we can continue with the ceremony. The only one that we’re missing is the Dark Spirit Ring,” the voice said quietly.
“I know that, Lloyd, but I don’t know where the ring is!” Altarrin shouted, annoyed at not being able to locate the Dark Ring. “I know we have to find it and bring it here with the rest of them, but we should do what we have to first!”
“I still say we should strictly follow the procedures. Otherwise, we may not get what we want,” Lloyd replied.
“Fine, you find the Ring. When you do, bring it to me. If only we had the Anti-ring. Then we could use it to locate the other one. We should pay Shadow a visit.”
Shadow turned around to look at everyone else, motioning for them to stay put. He quietly moved up into a tree to get a better view of the scene, with Li following.
Lloyd and Altarrin sat in the middle of a large clearing, silent now. Sakura lay at the base of tree on the far side of the clearing, unconscious. Quietly, Shadow cast a spell, delicately constructed to hide its presence from Altarrin, and floated through the air around the clearing. He made it to Sakura and quietly moved her away.
“Lloyd! We’re being attacked!” Altarrin yelled, noticing Shadow and forming a long, slender whip in his hands. Crescents of energy made their way towards Shadow. Quickly, he took out Shield and tried to use it. A shield flickered around Shadow for an instant and was destroyed as the first crescent collided with it.
“Attack!” Shadow yelled, hoping everyone would understand his command.
The rulers hurriedly rushed out from the trees and unleashed torrents of energy at Altarrin, pinning him to the ground. Immediately, Shadow grabbed Sakura and pulled her out of the way before a second crescent collided with where they were.
“Let me go!” Lloyd yelled as he too was pinned to the ground by the rulers.
“You will not win so easily!” Altarrin yelled, breaking free of the magical energies that held him and dashing straight towards Sakura.
Shadow turned just in time and formed a protective shield of Dark energy around him, which threw Altarrin backwards.
“Fine!” Altarrin yelled, forming a large bolt of energy and hurling it at the sky. Creatures rained down around them, ready to attack at a moment’s notice, ready to destroy them to please their master. “Take Sakura from them!”
“Sakura, you have to wake up now!” Shadow yelled, creating multiple layers of his Dark powered shield around him and Sakura.
Creatures swarmed towards Shadow, attacking his shield, determined to be the one that would bring back Sakura.
“Sh-Shadow?” Sakura asked drowsily, coming into consciousness.
“Shadow!” Tyrell yelled, sending a large bolt of electricity at the monsters closest to him. “Are you ok?”
“I’m fine, where’s everyone else?”
“They’re coming, Matriana is doing the best she can getting through the monsters. Sigma’s helping her, while the rest are up with Solana finding a way in.”
“How did you get here?” Shadow asked, unleashing bolts of Dark energy that disintegrated whatever enemies it came in contact with.
“My father taught me how to teleport short distances right before he died. He told me never to use it unless I absolutely had to because more than half of the time it kills the person. I had to help,” Tyrell said. “Let’s pool our magic and get rid of these.”
Shadow and Tyrell created a small pool of their magic and pulled from it. Shadow immediately used the mixture of magic to create better layers of shields around the three of them while attempting to destroy whatever monsters were nearest him. By now, thousands of monsters, both flying and on the ground, surrounded them.
“Give me Sakura!” Altarrin commanded, hovering nearby.
“You’ll have to take her from me if you want her!” Shadow yelled, sending a bolt of Dark and Lightning energy at Altarrin who swiftly dodged it.
Monsters continued to rain from the sky, landing around Shadow, Tyrell and Sakura.
“Shadow, what’s going on?” Sakura asked, suddenly realizing that she was standing in the middle of a group of monsters with only Shadow and Tyrell nearby.
“You were captured and we came after you!” Shadow yelled, raising his voice above the screams of the monsters as they broke through the first layer of his shield. “Sakura, I need your help! You have to try something against these monsters! For some reason, my Cards aren’t working!”
“But I can’t release my staff! I tried to when we were back in your castle, and it didn’t work,” Sakura replied, unsure how else she could help Shadow.
“Was that the first time that your staff hasn’t released?”
“I think that was the first since I arrived. It’s happened before, but that was when I was changing the Clow Cards to Sakura Cards.”
“Try again!” Shadow yelled, exhausted from the enormous amount of spells he had been casting.
Shadow stopped casting spells for a while and did nothing else but let Dark energy flow through him and into the pool for Tyrell to use. Meanwhile, Sakura took out her Star key and began her incantation. “Release!” she yelled at the end, but to no avail. The key, no matter how hard she tried, remained a key. “I don’t know why this isn’t working!” Sakura yelled, beginning to cry.
“Don’t cry, it’ll only make things worse,” Shadow said, encouraging Sakura. “Think. Has anything different happened between the last time you used your cards and the first time your staff wouldn’t release?”
Sakura fell to her knees, feeling a bit of pain in her head from being knocked out. “There is one thing. Right before Altarrin’s monsters started attacking, I felt a strong presence, kinda like a Clow Card, on the roof of your castle. Kero and I went to investigate and we found these,” Sakura said, taking out the two new cards as Tyrell continued to fend off the monsters. “Do you know what they are?”
“No, I’ve never seen anything like them before. They look… almost alive. I can feel something strong coming from them,” Shadow said, taking one of the cards in his hands.
“Be careful,” Sakura warned. “When Kero got near them, they started glowing gold and something flung him into a wall.”
“I think this is why your staff isn’t working. It’s also probably why the shield I put up using Shield around your friends disappeared. These two cards seem to nullify Clow’s magic, even though they were partially made by him. I just wonder who the other person’s magic is, and what it has to do with us.”
“So, what am I going to do?”
“It seems like these two cards have chosen you as their mistress. If you don’t find someway to control their magic, or use them, you may not get out of this alive. I’m sure you will find a way. You always do,” Shadow replied.
“You’re right. I’ll find a way,” Sakura said, smiling again.
Sakura closed her eyes, searching inside her for some solution to the problem as Shadow turned back to the battle around them. “Leave us alone!” Shadow shouted, sending waves of Dark energy out at the creatures, annihilating them. Still, more monsters appeared, taking the place of each monster destroyed and more.
“Shadow, what if I use the Anti-ring? Is there anyway I can access its powers?” Sakura asked suddenly.
“Try to!” Shadow yelled over the victory cries of the monsters as they broke another two layers of Shadow’s shield. “Just concentrate on the Anti-ring and try to pull energy from it!” Shadow instructed, turning back to the monsters again.
Sakura closed her eyes and pictured clearly in her mind every detail of the Anti-ring. She concentrated on nothing but the ring in her hands, similar to what she does to release her staff. Slowly, she felt a trickle of power coming from the Anti-ring and desperately grabbed for it, hoping to divert the path of the stream into herself. After a few minutes, the tiny stream of energy grew and flowed into Sakura, filling her with Dark energy.
“Shadow, what do I do now that I have this energy inside me?” Sakura asked, completely unsure of what to do.
“I don’t know what to tell you. Just find a way to unleash it. Try to use it on something like you would use your natural magic,” Shadow replied, still fending off enemies and becoming fatigued.
“You can’t keep this up forever!” Altarrin yelled from outside the ring of enemies. “However, I have an infinite source of creatures!”
Sakura closed her eyes again, severing the connection between her and the Anti-ring and working only with the Dark energy inside her. She gathered all the energy into one place and shot it at the nearest enemy, causing it to step back in confusion.
“Try using more of it!” Shadow yelled as the enemies screamed in outrage.
Sakura turned back to the Anti-ring and repeated the process she had used before, pulling a torrent of energy from it. Holding on to the energy, she severed her connection with the Anti-ring again and shot a ball of Dark energy at another creature. This time, the creature received a deep gash across its chest as the energy hit and howled in pain.
“Good job, but you have to find some way to use all of this to allow your Cards to work again. Try releasing your staff again, but use some Dark energy while doing it. I know it sounds weird, probably because you’ve never actually talked about how you do what you do, but try it anyways. Concentrate on your Key and when you shout ‘release,’ put some Dark energy into it,” Shadow instructed and turned to see Tyrell panting. “Tyrell, are you ok?”
“I’ll be fine. Just… let me… rest for a while,” he said, sitting down on a rock to recharge his magical energies.
Shadow walked to the center of the shields and pulled more energy from the Dark Power Sphere, filling himself with it. He unleashed an outwardly flowing ring of energy on the monsters, knocking them all back a few feet before concentrating on each individual and destroying them.
Sakura closed her eyes yet again, concentrating on her Star Key and reciting the incantation to release it. As she yelled, “Release!” she poured some of the Dark energy she had stored up inside her into the Key. Moments later, the Key slowly transformed into a staff and extended to its full length. “Fiery!” Sakura yelled, trying one of her Cards.
The Card hovered for a few seconds in the air before slowly floating back down to Sakura’s hand, still as lifeless as before. “Shadow, what’s wrong? Why can’t I use my Cards?”
“Remember what I told you. The new cards you have nullify Clow’s magic when it’s alone. You have to put other magic into it. Use the Anti-ring in the same way that you did to release your staff, and you should be able to use the Cards. Better yet, you could try using the Cards. However, you know how dangerous that could be,” Shadow replied, decimating monsters in the process.
The monsters gave a loud cheer as they destroyed the next couple of shields, leaving only one between them and their victims. At that moment, a sphienent phased into the midst of them and the monsters quieted. The sphienent turned a bright red and lashed out at the last shield, shattering it to pieces, and headed straight for Sakura.
“Fiery!” Sakura and Shadow yelled at the same time. Both their Cards worked, infused with Dark energy, and sprang towards the sphienent, annihilating it. The other monsters stared at their annihilated comrade, suddenly enraged and willing to risk anything for revenge. A moment later, they all charged, seeing no shield between themselves and their prey, ready to avenge their fallen.
Moments before they reached their victims, Shadow and Sakura shouted, “Shield!” and formed two shields around the three of them, blocking the monsters.
“Shadow, we can’t keep this up forever! I don’t have that much energy, and it takes a lot for me to pull power out of the Anti-ring. What are we going to do?” Sakura asked desperately.
“We’ll hope that the others get through soon. Until then, we’ll have to think of a way out,” Shadow replied, walking over to Tyrell. “Are you okay now, Tyrell?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine. Now I’m sure that Sakura is the prophesized one. She’s fulfilled the second sign and that’s enough proof for me. Not everyone can learn to use magic from the Realms. For most, you’re either born with it, or you won’t ever be able to use it.”
“Sakura!” came Li’s voice from the crowd of monsters. “Get out of my way!” he yelled, slashing his way through the monsters and stepping through the protective shield.
“Li! What are you doing here? I though you were with Solana and the others!” Sakura yelled, embracing Li and causing him to blush furiously.
“I… I wanted to see if you were okay,” Li replied, a little uncomfortable.
“Thank you for worrying about me,” Sakura said, causing Li to turn a deeper red. “I’m okay.”
“Ummm… Sakura… I… ummm…”
“Hey, the two of you might want to celebrate your reunion later,” Shadow said, interrupting Li.
“You’re right. We’ve got to find a way to stop Altarrin. Shadow, does the prophecy say anything about the order that the signs are supposed to happen?”
“Well, it implies that they would go from one to four, in order, but I think you did the second before you finished the first.”
“What about the third? I don’t understand that one. What does it mean when it says I’ll find someone that’s lost me earlier in life?” Sakura asked.
“I want to tell you, I really do, but I’m afraid I can’t quite let you know. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can tell you. Work on the parts you do know, then figure out the rest,” Shadow replied.
“Sakura, what are we going to do about these monsters? Shield can’t hold forever,” Li asked, hoping Sakura would have some idea what to do.
“I think I should try these new cards. Maybe they work like my Cards. The prophecy says I’m supposed to conjure strange beings from them, and that’s what I do with my Cards. It shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
“I don’t think it’s very safe,” Shadow and Li said at the same time.
“If you want to, I’ll support and help you how I can,” Shadow said. “I still don’t think it’s too safe though.”
“Shadow,” Tyrell yelled, pointing up at the sky. “Look! It’s Solana on Zephyr!”
Shadow, Li and Sakura all looked up at the sky to see a large white horse descending into the protective shield with Solana and Candice on its back.
“So, they haven’t torn you apart. What a shame,” Candice said as she dismounted Zephyr.
“Candice!” Solana yelled. “We’re supposed to be working together. If we don’t, Altarrin will destroy us all!”
Candice shot a challenging look at Shadow, and turned to the monsters, setting them aflame one by one.
“You really shouldn’t work so hard here. Your alignment is Fire, and it takes a lot of work to use Fire energy here,” Shadow warned before joining in and dissolving the monsters around them.
“I don’t need your advice!” Candice shouted, continuing to set monsters on fire.
“Sakura, are you alright?” Solana asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for coming to rescue me,” Sakura replied, still thinking about the two new cards and what they might do.
Solana turned to the fight and tried to help, straining herself to pull at the Wind energy that seemed so distant.
“Solana, you don’t need to help. It’s very difficult to access Wind energy from here. Keep Sakura safe!” Shadow yelled over the angry screams of the monsters.
“Quiet!” Altarrin suddenly yelled, causing all the monsters to halt. “I’ve had enough of this. I will destroy you all myself, and when I finish, Sakura will be mine and the Realms will fall at my feet!”
“Not if I can help it!” Li yelled, taking out his lightning parchment and summoning a large stream of lightning. The lightning sped towards Altarrin and ricocheted off his dark armor, doing absolutely nothing.
“You fool! You can do nothing against me!” Altarrin boomed, flinging streams of energy at the shields around Li, destroying the first.
Shadow’s Shield Card returned to its Card form and floated down to Shadow’s hand. Altarrin flung another stream of his multi-colored energy at the remaining shield, intending to blow straight through it and hit Li, when a large slab of earth appeared between Altarrin and the shield, intercepting the energy.
“Are you guys ok?” Sigma yelled, running into the shield with Matriana following behind him.
“We’re fine. Where’s everyone else?” Solana asked worriedly.
“We thought they were with you,” Matriana replied. “I haven’t seen any of them since the monsters started appearing.”
“I though I saw Abner mount Zephyr with you, Solana. Where did he go?” Sigma asked.
“He asked me to set him down back there,” Solana said, motioning to the east. “So I let him off and asked him why, but he disappeared before he answered. Then I came back to see if I could find you guys.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. How did he disappear?” Tyrell asked.
“I turned to see if anyone was following me while asking him why he wanted to be let off. Then, when I turned back, he wasn’t there anymore,” Solana explained, as confused as everyone else.
Suddenly, the large slab of earth Sigma had put between Altarrin and the rulers shattered. Altarrin unleashed wave after wave of energy, aiming for each of the rulers. “You will all fall before me!”
At that moment, all the rulers turned to Altarrin and unleashed their energies at him simultaneously, forming one massive ball of assorted energy and negating all of his attacks before the remainder of the energy collided with Altarrin, sending him back a few feet.
“Let’s take care of him before we do anything else,” Shadow suggested, pouring Dark energy into a collective pool.
The rest of the rulers did the same. When they had added enough energy to the pool, they pulled from it until they held the most they could. “Let’s see if you can stand to this!” Shadow yelled, as all the rulers unleashed a large ball of mixed energy at Altarrin.
Seconds later, the ball of energy collided with Altarrin, breaking through his armor and flinging him back into a tree.
“Noooo!” Altarrin yelled as he rammed into the tree. “You will all pay! And she will help me do it!” With that, Altarrin’s eyes turned a deep blue and his icy gaze landed on Li. Li’s eyes darkened and suddenly, he stepped towards Sakura and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her out of the shield.
“Li, what are you doing?” Sakura asked, fearful of the answer.
“Shadow,” came a low voice from Li’s mouth. “Give me your Anti-ring or I will destroy Sakura!”
“Li, let me go! Li? What are you doing?” Li’s grip tightened on Sakrua’s wrist, causing her to wince in pain. “ Ow! Li, stop!” Sakura yelled, struggling to break free. As she struggled, the Anti-ring, by some off chance, fell from her pocket and landed at Li’s feet. He quickly bent over to pick it up and grabbed Sakura, pulling her towards Altarrin.
Altarrin got to his feet and put a hand on Li, their eyes glowing an icy blue.
“You will all suffer for what you have done to me,” Altarrin said quietly. “You will all suffer for what you have done!” he screamed. “Come, we have work to do.” Altarrin motioned for Li to follow him and walked off with Sakura.
“No, let him go!” Sakura yelled, kicking and screaming. “Let Li go!”
“No!” Altarrin screamed, tightening his grip on Sakura’s hand and causing her to wince in pain.
“Li! Listen to me!” Shadow screamed, catching everyone’s attention. “You can’t do this to Sakura. I know you’re in there somewhere!”
“You fool! He is mine now, and mine he will stay!” Altarrin yelled, walking away with Sakura and Li.
“Listen to me!” Shadow yelled in a commanding voice. “Will you do nothing to fight this?”
“You may as well give up, Shadow, and I’ll spare you when the destruction comes. I’ll see you then and you can have your precious Sakura back!” Altarrin spat, pulling Sakura along behind him. Li followed Altarrin, ignoring Shadow completely.
“Li! You have to come to your senses!” Sigma yelled, not daring to step forward, “After all the work you did to find her, you’re going to help send her over to the enemy?”
By this time, Altarrin had already disappeared into the dark forest with Li following after. Moments later, Sigma turned back to the other rulers, losing hope. “This has gone on for too long. Why would Altarrin want Sakura?”
“Well, if you’d let me up, I’ll tell you!” a voice yelled from the edge of the clearing.
“Lloyd, we forgot about you,” Shadow said, releasing the flow of energy that pinned him down. “Your master seems to have left you now that he has possession of my Anti-ring.”
“That’s fine. I will come with you and help save Sakura. I know why Altarrin wants her. Is everyone here so I don’t have to tell it twice?”
“Everyone’s here except for Eriol and the four guardians. Abner seems to be missing.”
“Did you say Abner?” Lloyd asked suddenly.
“Yes, why?” Shadow replied.
“That name sounds oddly familiar. Where have I heard it before?” Lloyd mumbled to himself.
“Well, he’s the ruler of the Light Realm. Maybe that’s where you’ve heard it. The rulers’ names are thrown around from time to time,” Sigma suggested.
“That might be it. Anyways, do these people need to hear this?”
“No. If they want to know, we’ll tell them after. Go on,” Candice said, staring at Lloyd suspiciously.
“Alright, here’s what I know. Altarrin’s planning on bringing back the Spirits that rampaged across the Realms some years ago. However, he’s not going to send them across the Realms, but rather, he’ll use the infinite energy from each of these to form a gateway to another world. Then, someone, or something, is supposed to come from this gateway and he’ll be able to destroy the Realms without any opposition. That way, he can remake them however he sees fit.
He needs Sakura for all of this because she’s the prophesized one. She’s the one from another world that can use cards to summon magical creatures to do her bidding. The magical energies she uses will be completely drained from her body, leaving her completely lifeless and used to help create this gateway. I’m not sure exactly what the Dark Prophecies say, but that’s the general idea,” Lloyd explained as the rulers listened carefully.
There was silence for a few moments before Shadow spoke up. “What are the Dark Prophecies?” he asked.
“There are two types of Prophecies in the universe: Light and Dark. There are also other prophecies, with a lowercase ‘p’, that aren’t as significant. Light Prophecies are those that ultimately help the Light, the good side of things, and Dark prophecies are those that will result in chaos and destruction. The Dark Prophecies are usually recorded by Dark sorcerers, no offense to you, Shadow, and the Light ones are usually recorded by Light sorcerers. In other words, these Prophecies are recorded by those that they are important to.
“Altarrin has a large book of Dark Prophecies that have been recorded since the creation of the Realms. Some of it is written in an extremely old language that most people, including Altarrin, can’t read. The more recent ones are written in plain text and can be read easily though they may be difficult to understand.
“This particular Dark Prophecy that I’m talking about was prophesized about seventeen years ago, a little before the war. It basically stated that during a long war, Spirits of the Realms’ types would appear. Then, as an end to the war, the Spirits would die. However, the Spirits would rise again and, with the help of someone alien to the Realms that would wield magical cards, create a doorway to another world.
“I have no idea what might be in this other world, or what would actually happen to cause the Realms to be destroyed, but I don’t want to find out.”
A long silence followed after Lloyd finished. Shadow stared ahead for a while. After a few long minutes, Shadow spoke again. “Well, I have a slight confession to make. I knew a little about the Dark Prophecies, though I didn’t know they were called that. I had, a while ago, found out about this and researched it a little further. All I knew was that someone would come from another world, not of the Realms, and would bring destruction to us.”
“But yet you kept her with you anyways? What are you, crazy? You idiotic little…”
“That’s enough, Candice,” Matriana commanded. “Let Shadow talk; he knows more about this than any of us.”
“Right, as I was saying, I found out that this person would bring destruction to us. I also knew that what is prophesized would inevitably happen, so I went and looked in some other books. I found some Light Prophecies, I didn’t know they were called that either, that were similar to the Dark one I’ve told you about. It spoke of a person from another world that would save the Realms from destruction as well as be the cause of the destruction.”
“Wait, let me see if I understand what you’ve said,” Solana said. “Lloyd said that Altarrin will kill Sakura by draining all of the energy from her body and using it to open this gateway which will bring destruction to the Realms. This is prophesized in the Dark Prophecies, right?” Shadow and Lloyd both nodded as Solana looked at them. “Then, the Light Prophecies say that Sakura will somehow save us, even though she’s dead?”
“I don’t know. I’m just telling you what I read,” Shadow replied.
“So, Sakura has to go through all of this, whether she likes it or not?” Solana asked despairingly. “That’s not fair to her. She’s so young, so full of life!” Solana yelled emphatically when Lloyd nodded. “Why her?”
“Things always seem to happen to Sakura, but she’ll be okay. Here’s my last question,” Shadow said. “Why are you joining us, Lloyd? You could have ruled the Realms with Altarrin, so why join us?”
“I’m not sure. When I met Sakura, I questioned whether what I was doing was right. I led her straight to Altarrin, laughed at her when she was tortured, and never once did she fight back, never once did she show any signs of violence towards me. She would always just take the pain and carry on, always full of hope. Then, when I saw her losing hope, I just couldn’t bear it any more. In the end, I suppose it was just her attitude that won me over. I just want her to survive this. I don’t think its fair for all of this to happen to her,” Lloyd said as remorseful tears formed in his eyes.
“It’s okay. I’m sure she’ll be alright. She always seems to find a way through.”
Yes! It’s done! I actually finished the chapter! Before I celebrate, I need to apologize to all my wonderful readers out there. I’m sorry, I really am. This chapter was more than a little late. I suppose I don’t have too much to blame, but I’ll blame homework. Anyhow, I’ll start writing the next chapter now.
Things to think about:
I shouldn’t have to tell you. In this chapter, think about the prophecy, the first one that I gave you. Then, think about the Light and Dark Prophecies that you’ve just now heard about.
Also, how is Sakura going to fulfill any prophecies if she dies? Does this mean she’ll somehow make it through?
Now, I’m going to allow you to come up with stuff to think about by yourself. All that’s left now is the still standing “challenge to the readers.”
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.