We were there for a long time while they stabilized my uncle's health. He grew stronger, fortunately, but I was not allowed to leave. I passed the time by making new cards, almost feeling at home most of the time. I could feel the spirits of my ancestors in the halls, and they were welcoming me in a way my living relatives would not. They saw me for who I was, not for how I looked or who my mother had married. Things like that weren't as important to the dead as they were to the living.
People were curious about the cards I created, but I was unwilling to share with many of them the secrets I had. It was too much power to place in the hands of any unscrupulous person who sought only power, so instead of showing off the fruits of my efforts I showed common tarot cards. Even those were an object of fascination for many. I had designed and drawn them myself as part of my training years ago, refining and understanding the symbology of the Kabbalah and how it was being tied in to the native European magical symbology. The tarot cards were uniquely my own within the framework that had been laid down by many centuries of tradition.
I didn't even think about jealousy and envy among those who were native to the area. In my idle time I was robbing people of their livelihood without even thinking about it. By telling fortunes on my own I had stepped on the toes of those already here. This was made painfully clear one day as I sat beneath a towering tree and flipped idly through the simple tarot cards, contemplating the creation of my Return card.
"So, you're the one!"
I looked up, noticing her for the first time. She had a powerful aura, clear and flowing like water, and I knew what her magical affinity was immediately. "Hello. To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you?"
"Pleasure?" Her voice was low, melodious, and yet threatening. "This is hardly a pleasure, outsider. What the hell are you doing here?!"
I frowned, confused. "Why don't you just tell me what's wrong?"
"You've been telling fortunes here, with your pretty cards and your beautiful companions. You give away for free what I must do to earn a living, and you have the nerve to ask me what's wrong?"
I couldn't even think of a way to apologize. It had never crossed my mind that my idle fortune telling could have an impact on anyone other than the person I was sitting with at the time. "I was just practicing, playing around a little with--"
"Your idle practice has taken all of my customers away! I was making a comfortable and steady living by reading the currents of fate, and now I am in debt! You come here with a flashy new method, and an outsider's view, and no people don't want to listen to me! How dare you? Why are you doing this to me?"
"I never meant--"
"You have ruined my life, Sorcerer Clow Reed! You shall pay for insulting and robbing me!"
She didn't give me another chance. She threw an attack directly at me, hoping to trap me in a sphere of water.
It never touched me.
I dodged aside easily, pulling out the Watery card in one fluid motion and holding it before me like a shield. I had only to invoke the spirit within the card and all of this girl's magic would be turned against her. I hesitated though. She wasn't a true match for me, and I did not want to--
Two ribbons suddenly snaked out from her flowing robes, wrapping tightly around my wrists. It surprised me enough to make me drop the card. Watery hovered before me, confused by what was going on, but unwilling to be released from card form without my command.
My two guardians were there immediately, Cerberus blasting a fiery warning shot at her feet, and Yue drawing his energy bow. They both flanked me, glaring ominously and waiting for her to make another move. "I would suggest you let me go; you don't know who you're dealing with." My warning was calm, almost casual, and said in an even tone.
"It is you who do not know who you are dealing with." The ribbons tightened for a moment, then withdrew. "I will not forgive this, Clow Reed. I will not forgive, and I will not give up. I will not be beaten by you!"
She turned away, beaten for the moment, but still regal in defeat. Her long hair flowed like a dark wave as she walked away, and I almost smiled. I knew I would be seeing her again, and I knew she would not rest until she was confident she could beat me. I would have to keep on my toes.
I casually sat back down, already planning attack and defense cards for her return. Cerberus and Yue did not back down until she was no longer in sight.
It was then that I realized, she knew my name, but I had no idea what hers was.
~~~~~@~~~~~
"Sit down, Clow. It's time for us to talk about the future." My uncle sat in his room, still unable to stand, but strong enough now to carry the weight of responsibility for the Clan.
I did as I was told, bowing before I was seated. Tea was set up between us...and I saw a proper English tea for the first time I had seen since I left home. I was shocked and a little disturbed by this concession, wondering what would be requested...or expected...of me.
"I must have an heir, and you are my closest surviving male relative," he began as I poured the tea. "The words we exchanged when you arrived here were said in a haze of pain and desperation, yet contain some truth. I admire your dedication to duty, but you have no drive aside from your own selfish goals." His thin lips twisted in a sardonic grin at this point. "I should thank you for that. It gave me extra motivation to remain in this world. I could not hand the Clan over to someone who wouldn't care about it one way or the other except as an obligation."
I nodded carefully. "Yes, that's the impression I had."
Uncle chuckled, clearly in better spirits now. "You clearly have a different destiny ahead of you, Clow. I shouldn't criticize you for that, much as I can't understand you. Still, I hope that your selfish, idealistic nature is not passed down to my heir." He blunted the impact of the statement with a smile.
Of course this was what the discussion was about. What else would it be? "There is no way you could father a child?"
His face darkened. "There will never be seed again. You must do this for me."
I still hesitated. "So, I need to--"
"Are you still a child, Clow? You must lay with my wife until she produces a son. My heir must be strong with magic, and it would not do to have people know the child is not mine. Can you do this?"
I nodded, slowly.
Could this day be any stranger?
~~~~~@~~~~~
"Clow?"
I nodded, distracted. "What is it, Yue?"
"Tonight...could we...?"
I shook my head, still not paying attention. "I have something that must be done."
"About that, I--"
He broke off suddenly, and I turned to look at him. "Yue?"
"Nothing. It's nothing." He was looking out the window, looking more heartbroken than I could remember him being ever before.
"Yue, this is a duty I must do." I crossed over to him, reaching out to him, but he pulled away.
"Don't touch me." His eyes glittered, narrowing.
I drew back in shock. He had never been angry with me before. He had never expressed displeasure with me or argued with me, and the last thing I could imagine him doing was refusing my touch.
"At one time, you said you could not touch me if all you were to me was 'Master'."
His words hit me like a splash of cold water. Was I treating him as less than human, by setting him aside like this? Yes. "It's only for procreation. Yue, I love you. But, it's my duty to help Uncle produce an heir."
"Yes, and I'm not standing in your way of performing your duty. I can't compare to a human...to a woman...so when you have the chance you should take it."
That hurt worse than any physical blow. I reached out to him again, but he pulled away again. I grabbed his wrist, and he glared. "Yue, stop."
"That's a command?"
"Yes." My heart ran cold to use this power, but I could feel how this would get worse if I did not.
"What would you have of me, Master?"
I held his gaze steadily, refusing to flinch when I heard those words. "You win. I won't touch her. I never want to hear you say such things again, I won't hear it. You are perfection. You are everything to me." Now I held him close, pulling his head to my chest possessively, never wanting to let him go. "I don't know what I'm going to do, but I can't do this to you. To us. To either of us."
"You didn't want to do this?"
"Not for a moment."
A growl came from the doorway, and Cerberus was looking at us, disgusted. "Can't you two find somewhere else to be sappy and romantic? I was trying to get some sleep."
I was on the verge of apologizing, but he shook his head.
"If you didn't want to do it in the first place, why did you play around like you wanted to?"
This made Yue glare at me once again, and I glared at my sun guardian in turn. "Out of duty."
"The last time I checked, you were a sorcerer."
"What is your point, Cerberus?"
"Why can't you solve this with magic?"
"I don't know if I could...nothing like that has ever been done before."
"That didn't stop you from creating us, or the cards!"
I stopped suddenly, realizing that he was completely right. Why hadn't I thought of this in the first place? I had made Yue suffer needlessly, and I had put Uncle in an uncomfortable position as well. "I will talk to Uncle about it. If it can be done this way, I will do all I can. I'm sorry for hurting you, my angel."
Cerberus groaned and rolled his eyes, muttering again about romantic sappy stuff, but that just meant things were back to normal. The look in Yue's eyes spoke of more love than hurt once again.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Uncle was more grateful than I can express here. The spell took a lot of work, and though I could still not give him a direct descendent I could give him an heir without breaking Yue's heart. The spell took longer to create and plan than it should have though.
I had many distractions and interruptions.
I didn't mention my meeting with the water sorceress at first to anyone. It was my own business, and I believed I should be the one to clean up my own messes. I was confident in my ability to deal with her one way or another, so I didn't even think to speak of the incident. I would have been more prepared for what happened next if I had.
It was the middle of the night when I rolled over to a rapidly cooling empty space beside me. There was still some warmth left where Yue had been, but that was incidental. He was gone, and that's all that mattered. My eyes were wide open in an instant, and I was reaching for my cards and rolling out of bed in one fluid movement. If I hadn't, I may have been taken as well.
Familiar white ribbons hit the bed where my neck and right hand had been a moment before. My hand failed to make contact with my cards on the bedside table, and a quick glance confirmed that they had been taken as well. I fell into a defensive crouch beside the bed, looking around the room for my attacker.
She hovered over the foot of my bed, about six inches above the mattress. I could see a maniacal grin on her face, though her eyes were hidden by her bangs. "I warned you, Clow Reed, but you are still here. Are you stubborn, or just stupid?"
I smiled as I pulled my key from around my neck. "Maybe both, maybe neither. I have stopped telling fortunes though, shouldn't that be enough?"
"Enough?" she shrieked. "It's too late for such small measures! People still will not come to me, and my debts are increasing! I am barely keeping my home, and food is becoming harder to find, and you think I will be happy with such a paltry measure? If you don't leave Hong Kong I will destroy your accursed cards, I will obliterate your guardians, and then I will kill you!"
"I can't do that," I said gently, but with determination.
"You have one day to change your mind, Sorcerer Clow Reed."
She threw a shimmering globe of water filled with attack magic of the strongest sort. I barely managed to transform my key into the sun staff to block it before it hit me. Even still, the backlash stunned me and threw me into the wall. In that amount of time she managed to escape cleanly, and I could find no trace of her, the cards, or my guardians.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Author's note: This is the part where you scream at me and threaten to kill me through the computer screen for ending it like this, right? Especially since I take so long to update this story. ~hides~
Well...does it help that I have already started on the next chapter? Please, don't lynch me yet! If you guys kill me, I'll *never* get this done! ~laughs~
Let's see...the great list! I would like to thank each and every person who has reviewed this: Fallen Angel, Kira, Rei Eien, Peacewish, L-chan, Violintide, Forsaken Tenshi, Askani Blue, Dark Ice Angel, Legolas, and Phantom. Popularity seems to be picking up on this story. Yay! I'll try *very* hard to post faster, but I have several different projects going on at once, and inspiration seems to be hard to come by on this. No matter how long it takes to update between chapters though, please know that I will not abandon this fic! I promise!
Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you again next chapter.