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Shadow Play
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/Here's an interesting little alternate universe that may or may not exist, but because there are just so many realities, they are infinite after all, it may just be true. It goes like this: What if Sakura couldn't change the Light and Dark cards to finish her test? I would stay true to my word and the world would continue to sleep. Syaoran, who had given all his power to Sakura, would also fall under my spell, and into an endless sleep. Of course, because she failed, Yue and Keroberos would be trapped in her staff. She would be utterly alone, aside from me and my own guardians, of course. I would be free to play.../
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'Oh, no!' Sakura exclaimed as the light that engulfed the cards slowly began to fall, and with it, her hope. She felt someone come behind her and support her, a strange flow of energy charging her.
'Syaoran!'
'I'm giving you my magic,' He said with some effort as he struggled against the powerful spell that was constantly present.
'But you'll fall asleep, too!' Sakura didn't want anything to happen to Syaoran... not after everything that they had been through together.
'You'll break the spell. I believe in you!' With that, Sakura found hope. She put everything she had into changing the Light and Dark cards.
/Believe in yourself, and in the cards./ She thought firmly to herself. /I believe.../
The light began to rise again. It would be okay! It was working and everything would be all right. A realization came to her, and it was that she wasn't getting and more power. Syaoran had slipped to the ground behind her, asleep.
'No, Syaoran!' She shook her thoughts away from her fallen friend. She had to do this, now.
/I... believe.../
The light abruptly fell, and the cards went dark, drifting gently to the ground before her. 'No! No, come on, change! Please change!' She picked up the cards and thrust them into the air again.
'I call upon the power of my star...'
'It's too late,' Stated a voice from above her.
She chose to ignore it. 'Ancient forces near and far, Clow card, discard your former might, and draw your power from my light!' She tried to change them again, but with no success. The line of light barely started up the cards before it disappeared, and the cards fell to her feet once more.
'No! Why... why won't they change? They have to change, or... or...' Sakura started to shake as the realization struck her. She had failed. Everyone would stay asleep forever, and Kero and Yue were trapped in her staff...
'Shame...' Said the voice from above her, the sorcerer named Eriol Hiiragizawa, and the reincarnation of Clow Reed.
'But... You can't do thi..s...' Sakura sobbed softly. 'Clow Reed... he didn't hurt people... Why would he want something like this to happen if I couldn't change them? Can't it just be like the Final Judgment and just have everyone forget? That would be better, and no one, really, would get hurt!'
'That may be so,' Eriol said with a smile, a shadow hiding his eyes. 'But /Clow/ sticks to his promises. Besides, if I just made everyone forget, the cards would be useless. Their powers would fade, after all, they would have to be cut off from you. They would die.'
'Can't you change them? They would be Clow cards again, wouldn't they? Can't you... can't you give me another chance? An extension? A hint?'
Eriol thought a moment, but it was exaggerated, as though he had already thought of the answers before she had ever asked them. He mocked her, which only served to crush her moral further. 'I could change the cards myself...' He said slowly at last. 'But they wouldn't exactly be Clow cards. Let me show you. Seeing as you can't change Light and Dark, I'll do the honours.'
With a slight notion of his staff, the Light and Dark cards rose into the air, and floated to him, the backs of the cards facing Sakura. He touched the cards, each in turn, and the air around them shimmered like water then faded.
'Have a look for yourself.' The card pair drifted back to Sakura, and landed gently in her hand. The colours were strange, and as she turned the cards over the Clow symbol on the back was upside-down and flipped left-to- right, still with the strange colours. Sakura noticed that they were like picture negatives. In fact, they looked exactly like picture negatives of the originals.
'Inverted Clow cards.' Eriol said in a low voice. 'And as for your other questions...'
Sakura looked up at Eriol, hope in her eyes. She felt the cards lift out of her hands and fly back up to Eriol.
'No. To all of them.'
'What?! Why?!' It took everything in her to keep from crying.
'Because. If I gave you another chance, it would defy the point of the whole thing. An extensions absolutely out of the question. This was a test. You are only allowed a certain amount of time. As for hints? Impossible because you already know everything that you would need to, to break my spell. Your original, and I'll have you know that it is the only, solution to this didn't work the first time, therefore it never will.' Eriol spoke very matter-of-factly, Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun standing protectively behind him, as though Sakura would some how lash out at Eriol in attempt to change his mind by force.
Eriol continued, oblivious to whatever danger his guardians believed him to be in. 'At this point it's all too late. You've used up too much of your magic to be able to try again anytime soon, and you won't be able to recover enough magic before sunrise.'
'Do you want the world to sleep forever?' Sakura asked quietly. 'And what about Kero and Yue? They were once your guardians! Do you even care at all? Everyone... everyone is sleeping, and we're all alone, and you don't care at all?' Sakura cried.
'It's quieter...' Eriol said softly, the smile gone from his face. From what Sakura could see there was something... sadness? He did care, but he seemed to have his mind set. Maybe if she kept playing to this sadness... she could get him to change his mind.
Eriol stepped off of the arch, but he didn't fall. He touched gently down on the ground, his guardians following.
'Ruby, Spinel, could you leave us, please?' His guardians looked reluctant to follow through, but with hesitation, they complied. When they were gone, Eriol walked up to Sakura. 'You must think I'm a horrible person, and you're not entirely wrong, but there's consequences. Everything has consequences.' He spoke gently, sympathy clear in his eyes. 'I had great hope for you, I really did. You changed every other card, passed every other test, but everyone has a breaking point. Not one single person in the world can do everything, and I guess we have found your limits.
'But why does the whole world have to suffer for my mistake?'
'What if it was the whole world at stake, and it wasn't a destiny of a never-ending sleep for the world... what if it was death? Such things are possible, once you become involved with the cards. It's happened before, I've been there, but that is a very long, boring story.'
'It's not something else. You made it so that it was the whole world at stake.'
Eriol looked a little shocked, then composed himself. 'You're right. Isn't that what I said? You get involved with the cards, and these things happen. I don't think I shall go back on my word.'
'But... the whole world! Animals, people, everything! It was your spell, you did it, and you can un-do it.'
There was that smile again, that aggravating smile that told her she couldn't touch him. 'Not for the world, love. I could do it. I won't, though.'
'It doesn't have to be like this,' Sakura said, starting to get angry. Why wouldn't he? It was his fault, and he had been extremely contradictory, at least, in Sakura's eyes.
'True, but I made a promise that I intent to keep. If I don't follow through with it, you won't ever learn.'
'No one is that important! No one is important enough, that if they fail one test, then the world is fated to eternal darkness.'
'You are, Sakura. Mistakes do have consequences. If they didn't... well, the world would just be one big mess. Besides,' Eriol leaned in closer to Sakura. 'One on one... you and me... I personally think it's funner this way-'
SLAP
Eriol turned away with the force of her strike, surprise in his eyes.
'This isn't a game!'
There was a long, tense moment of silence after that. She shouldn't have done that, she knew right away. He had come very close to killing her on several occasions, and he was just testing her without vengeance then. The spells he used then were likely some of his gentler ones. It was definitely not a good idea to get on his bad side...
As she feared, anger flared briefly in his eyes, and his expression turned into one of cool calculation. Sakura was definitely very clear on the fact that she was below him with that look. 'That's where you're wrong. This is a game... and it's the hardest one you'll ever play.' He spoke in a voice of pure velvet poison, and swept away, not once looking back.
From everything Sakura knew about Clow, that should not have happened. Maybe something happened to Eriol that didn't to Clow?
Or perhaps Clow was just trying to be patient with her, despite the fact that he was really a spoiled brat.
Shadow Play
----------
/Here's an interesting little alternate universe that may or may not exist, but because there are just so many realities, they are infinite after all, it may just be true. It goes like this: What if Sakura couldn't change the Light and Dark cards to finish her test? I would stay true to my word and the world would continue to sleep. Syaoran, who had given all his power to Sakura, would also fall under my spell, and into an endless sleep. Of course, because she failed, Yue and Keroberos would be trapped in her staff. She would be utterly alone, aside from me and my own guardians, of course. I would be free to play.../
----------
'Oh, no!' Sakura exclaimed as the light that engulfed the cards slowly began to fall, and with it, her hope. She felt someone come behind her and support her, a strange flow of energy charging her.
'Syaoran!'
'I'm giving you my magic,' He said with some effort as he struggled against the powerful spell that was constantly present.
'But you'll fall asleep, too!' Sakura didn't want anything to happen to Syaoran... not after everything that they had been through together.
'You'll break the spell. I believe in you!' With that, Sakura found hope. She put everything she had into changing the Light and Dark cards.
/Believe in yourself, and in the cards./ She thought firmly to herself. /I believe.../
The light began to rise again. It would be okay! It was working and everything would be all right. A realization came to her, and it was that she wasn't getting and more power. Syaoran had slipped to the ground behind her, asleep.
'No, Syaoran!' She shook her thoughts away from her fallen friend. She had to do this, now.
/I... believe.../
The light abruptly fell, and the cards went dark, drifting gently to the ground before her. 'No! No, come on, change! Please change!' She picked up the cards and thrust them into the air again.
'I call upon the power of my star...'
'It's too late,' Stated a voice from above her.
She chose to ignore it. 'Ancient forces near and far, Clow card, discard your former might, and draw your power from my light!' She tried to change them again, but with no success. The line of light barely started up the cards before it disappeared, and the cards fell to her feet once more.
'No! Why... why won't they change? They have to change, or... or...' Sakura started to shake as the realization struck her. She had failed. Everyone would stay asleep forever, and Kero and Yue were trapped in her staff...
'Shame...' Said the voice from above her, the sorcerer named Eriol Hiiragizawa, and the reincarnation of Clow Reed.
'But... You can't do thi..s...' Sakura sobbed softly. 'Clow Reed... he didn't hurt people... Why would he want something like this to happen if I couldn't change them? Can't it just be like the Final Judgment and just have everyone forget? That would be better, and no one, really, would get hurt!'
'That may be so,' Eriol said with a smile, a shadow hiding his eyes. 'But /Clow/ sticks to his promises. Besides, if I just made everyone forget, the cards would be useless. Their powers would fade, after all, they would have to be cut off from you. They would die.'
'Can't you change them? They would be Clow cards again, wouldn't they? Can't you... can't you give me another chance? An extension? A hint?'
Eriol thought a moment, but it was exaggerated, as though he had already thought of the answers before she had ever asked them. He mocked her, which only served to crush her moral further. 'I could change the cards myself...' He said slowly at last. 'But they wouldn't exactly be Clow cards. Let me show you. Seeing as you can't change Light and Dark, I'll do the honours.'
With a slight notion of his staff, the Light and Dark cards rose into the air, and floated to him, the backs of the cards facing Sakura. He touched the cards, each in turn, and the air around them shimmered like water then faded.
'Have a look for yourself.' The card pair drifted back to Sakura, and landed gently in her hand. The colours were strange, and as she turned the cards over the Clow symbol on the back was upside-down and flipped left-to- right, still with the strange colours. Sakura noticed that they were like picture negatives. In fact, they looked exactly like picture negatives of the originals.
'Inverted Clow cards.' Eriol said in a low voice. 'And as for your other questions...'
Sakura looked up at Eriol, hope in her eyes. She felt the cards lift out of her hands and fly back up to Eriol.
'No. To all of them.'
'What?! Why?!' It took everything in her to keep from crying.
'Because. If I gave you another chance, it would defy the point of the whole thing. An extensions absolutely out of the question. This was a test. You are only allowed a certain amount of time. As for hints? Impossible because you already know everything that you would need to, to break my spell. Your original, and I'll have you know that it is the only, solution to this didn't work the first time, therefore it never will.' Eriol spoke very matter-of-factly, Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun standing protectively behind him, as though Sakura would some how lash out at Eriol in attempt to change his mind by force.
Eriol continued, oblivious to whatever danger his guardians believed him to be in. 'At this point it's all too late. You've used up too much of your magic to be able to try again anytime soon, and you won't be able to recover enough magic before sunrise.'
'Do you want the world to sleep forever?' Sakura asked quietly. 'And what about Kero and Yue? They were once your guardians! Do you even care at all? Everyone... everyone is sleeping, and we're all alone, and you don't care at all?' Sakura cried.
'It's quieter...' Eriol said softly, the smile gone from his face. From what Sakura could see there was something... sadness? He did care, but he seemed to have his mind set. Maybe if she kept playing to this sadness... she could get him to change his mind.
Eriol stepped off of the arch, but he didn't fall. He touched gently down on the ground, his guardians following.
'Ruby, Spinel, could you leave us, please?' His guardians looked reluctant to follow through, but with hesitation, they complied. When they were gone, Eriol walked up to Sakura. 'You must think I'm a horrible person, and you're not entirely wrong, but there's consequences. Everything has consequences.' He spoke gently, sympathy clear in his eyes. 'I had great hope for you, I really did. You changed every other card, passed every other test, but everyone has a breaking point. Not one single person in the world can do everything, and I guess we have found your limits.
'But why does the whole world have to suffer for my mistake?'
'What if it was the whole world at stake, and it wasn't a destiny of a never-ending sleep for the world... what if it was death? Such things are possible, once you become involved with the cards. It's happened before, I've been there, but that is a very long, boring story.'
'It's not something else. You made it so that it was the whole world at stake.'
Eriol looked a little shocked, then composed himself. 'You're right. Isn't that what I said? You get involved with the cards, and these things happen. I don't think I shall go back on my word.'
'But... the whole world! Animals, people, everything! It was your spell, you did it, and you can un-do it.'
There was that smile again, that aggravating smile that told her she couldn't touch him. 'Not for the world, love. I could do it. I won't, though.'
'It doesn't have to be like this,' Sakura said, starting to get angry. Why wouldn't he? It was his fault, and he had been extremely contradictory, at least, in Sakura's eyes.
'True, but I made a promise that I intent to keep. If I don't follow through with it, you won't ever learn.'
'No one is that important! No one is important enough, that if they fail one test, then the world is fated to eternal darkness.'
'You are, Sakura. Mistakes do have consequences. If they didn't... well, the world would just be one big mess. Besides,' Eriol leaned in closer to Sakura. 'One on one... you and me... I personally think it's funner this way-'
SLAP
Eriol turned away with the force of her strike, surprise in his eyes.
'This isn't a game!'
There was a long, tense moment of silence after that. She shouldn't have done that, she knew right away. He had come very close to killing her on several occasions, and he was just testing her without vengeance then. The spells he used then were likely some of his gentler ones. It was definitely not a good idea to get on his bad side...
As she feared, anger flared briefly in his eyes, and his expression turned into one of cool calculation. Sakura was definitely very clear on the fact that she was below him with that look. 'That's where you're wrong. This is a game... and it's the hardest one you'll ever play.' He spoke in a voice of pure velvet poison, and swept away, not once looking back.
From everything Sakura knew about Clow, that should not have happened. Maybe something happened to Eriol that didn't to Clow?
Or perhaps Clow was just trying to be patient with her, despite the fact that he was really a spoiled brat.