The Lord of Black Magic
Chapter 2: Prelude to a Nightmare
By ssGoku_138
Disclaimer-None of the characters in my stories are owned by me (except for the ones thatI have created)
So, please, I implore you, don't sue!
Eriol finished packing the last of his things. Nakaru, Suppi, and himself were all going to catch a plane to Hong Kong due in another fifteen minutes, giving them just enough time to check and make sure everything was in it's place. Walking back out of his dark, dreary room and into the dimly lit hallway, he could see Nakaru and Suppi coming towards him.
"We're all done," Nakaru stated. "Everything we're taking is in these suitcases."
"Good," Eriol acknowledged. "Whenever you two are ready, I'll teleport us to a safe spot outside of the airport."
Both Nakaru and Suppi nodded. "We're ready," they said in unison.
Lifting up his suitcase, Eriol held out his hand. "Grab ahold and we'll be on our way."
Nakaru and Suppi followed his instructions, and then suddenly vanished in a flash of light, leaving behind the ghostly mansion they all resided in.
~*~*~*~*~
Syaoran let out an exhausted sigh. He and Meilin had been having spar matches with one another ever since daybreak, and he had managed to win every single one. This left Syaoran very tired, however, he sat down on the dirt heaving. Meilin was not in much better condition than him.
"What do you say we call it quits for now?" Syaoran asked her, wiping the sweat off of his face with the sleeve of his robe.
"I wanted to get you down at least once," Meilin said. "But, since it looks like I'm not going to, fine. I'm kinda hungry at the moment anyway."
"Thank God," Syaoran said, standing up again. "We'll have a lunch break."
Meilin stood up as well, and followed Syaoran towards the house. For the past two days, they had been testing their skills against each other on the training ground inside of the shrine Syaoran's family now lived in. Syaoran had bested Meilin almost every time, although that did not break her competitive spirit at all.
Upon entering the house through the sliding door, Meilin gave Syaoran a thoughtful glance and asked "What are we going to eat?"
"Looks like we'll have to make something," he responded, walking towards the kitchen. Meilin followed him, and looked inside of a cupboard.
"Syaoran, there's no food in here," Meilin said after a moment. "I think your mom just left to pick up groceries."
Syaoran continued to look around, and found that there was not anything simple they could make. "Dammit. Just when we get hungry, there's not even a crumb of food left."
Meilin stepped back towards the doorway. "Well, do you have any money left over?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Then, let's go and buy something for ourselves."
"Okay," Syaoran agreed. "But maybe we should get cleaned up first. These dirty robes won't look too appealing in public."
Meilin nodded, and walked down the hallway towards the staircase. "You can go ahead and take a shower or whatever now. I'll have to go and get my clothes."
Syaoran listened to Meilin and walked into his room, bypassing the television set and his bed over to his dresser. There, he began to wearily select some clothes for him to wear. Upstairs, Meilin walked into one of Syaoran's sisters' rooms and got the clothes she had left there ready. Picking them out, her mind slowly wandered back to the past few days, when she had ran into Syaoran for the first time in three months. However, before her encounter with Syaoran, she most vividly remembered the vision she had before his arrival...
~<{Flashback 2 Days Ago}>~
Meilin sat on a bench, looking up at the gray sky. She felt depressed, or something remotely close to it, for some reason she couldn't explain in words. Meilin found herself thinking about love and other strong emotions, and what made a person experience them.
"Syaoran," Meilin said to herself quietly. "How can you have so much feeling for a girl you've only been around for about one year? It just doesn't make any sense to me..."
Sighing, she glanced at the fountain of a dolphin flowing water nearby. It was a pretty sight, even though the water's usual brightness was dulled by the gloom of the day. Meilin kept thinking about what could possibly motivate Syaoran's feelings. It was so strange to see him act like he did when he was around Sakura. Being stubborn and determined was pretty much how Syaoran was his entire life, and watching him have such a sudden change of heart with that girl whose fate has already been determined by destiny... The very matter puzzled her.
The sky seemed to rotate in circles as Meilin continued to ponder about what the true meaning of love is. It had to be something fantastic, uplifting, a feeling of happiness. What word could correctly describe it? Meilin did not know. She had thought she had fallen in love with Syaoran, but it was revealed to her that she really was not. She thought she had fallen in love with another boy, whom was also directly linked to the family, but found that she really was not. What exactly is love? How did it make you feel? Meilin wanted to know so desperately that it sometimes made her cry. Twice she has suffered heartbreak, or so she thought, on losing Syaoran to Sakura and ending the relationship with Hsin. It was all too confusing.
By now, the sky was swirling above Meilin. Staring into the gray circling void, Meilin felt her consciousness being dragged away, her soul being pulled towards some unknown place.
Then, she blacked out.
When Meilin had awaken, she found herself in a field. Clouds covered the sky and left a thick, eerie darkness in the land below it. A gentle breeze blew through the area, and felt as if it were heeding Meilin to avoid standing in the field. Around the field was nothing but darkness. No trees, no bushes, nothing. Completely devoid of any life whatsoever. As a colder breeze cut through the blades of green, wet grass, Meilin could feel the evil atmosphere of the plain she was standing in.
Out of the darkness, Meilin caught sight of a pair of glowering blue eyes in the shadows beyond the field before her. The wind stopped blowing, and everything fell silent. When the figure in the darkness stepped out into the dim light of the field, he gave Meilin the most intense and terrifying glare she had ever seen.
The person who stood before her was not all that scary, however, his narrowed gaze shot chills up and down Meilin's spine. The essence he gave off was dark, but also something similar to royality, something sort of like how Yelan made Meilin feel whenever she was around. His spikey-black hair and black Chinese-style robe wavered back and forth from the energy he emitted. It was quite obvious he possessed an enormous amount of power.
"W-who are you?" Meilin stammered, frightened by the stranger's appearance.
The boy stayed silent for a moment, and then answered her question. "Who I am is not important to you."
Meilin dared not to defy what he said, for her fear had reached the depths of her soul. "But... Then, why am I here?"
"You are here because I brought you here," the boy answered, his glare unmoving and emotionless.
"But why?"
"I have a task for you, Meilin Li," the boy replied.
"What's t-that?"
"You know of the girl whom goes by the name of 'Sakura Kinomoto', correct?"
"Yeah..."
"From what I heard from Syaoran Li, she is the mistress of the Clow Cards. Is this true?"
"You heard from Syaoran?" Meilin asked hopefully. It was not until now that she realized how much the boy who stood before her looked like Syaoran.
"Answer the question," the boy responded harshly.
"Um, yes. Sakura Kinomoto is the mistress of the Clow Cards."
The boy remained quiet for a few moments more before speaking again. "Good. Then I want you to perform this little task for me."
"Which is?" Meilin asked.
"I have foreseen a visit from Eriol Hiiragizawa in the near future," the boy began. "What I want you to do is get him to somehow use his spirit summoning chant around Syaoran. Should you fail to have him perform this, I will plague your nightmares for the remainder of your pathetic life. Understood?"
Meilin gulped. "Yes. But, how would I get him to do that?"
"I'll leave that up to you," the boy said. "He won't be around for another two days, so you should have enough time to think of something convincing. Oh, and by the way, if you tell absolutely anyone about this, you shall suffer the same penalty you would for failing your task."
"But--"
"See you around," the boy said, smiling evilly. His eyes started to glow a vibrant blue as Meilin slowly began to lose consciousness again. Soon, she fell to the grass below, her last sight being of the boy with spikey-black hair wearing a black robe.
~<{Present Time}>~
Meilin shuddered at the request of the boy with spikey-black hair. What could he be planning for with a spirit summoning chant performed near Syaoran? The intention was most likely not meant to be good, at least not for her or Syaoran anyway. The boy's proper prediction of Eriol's arrival scared Meilin a bit as well. The last person she even remembered that could foretell the coming of anything was Sakura.
Meilin knew of Eriol's supposed visit to Hong Kong from a phone call from Tomoyo. Tomoyo had told Meilin to somehow get Syaoran to go to the airport with her around 4 o'clock this afternoon, the time Eriol's plane was expected to arrive. It would take some doing, since it was not common for Syaoran to want to go anywhere he did not have to. In the end, though, Meilin figured she could get him to follow her.
Syaoran suddenly called for Meilin from downstairs. "Meilin," he said. "You can go and get cleaned up now. I'm done."
Snapping back to reality, Meilin picked up the clothes she was going to wear and went back downstairs.
'My mind has been wandering off for the last few days,' Meilin thought. 'I really need to stop spacing out like that.'
~*~*~*~*~
Oogama dashed through the dense forests of the island that he and Hikari were told to wait on. Each step he took, he seemed to pick up even more speed. His silver armor brilliantly reflected the sunlight that came down into the dark forest in patches through the trees, and his black cape flowed like a river behind him from the swiftness of his moving.
Running towards a stream, Oogama vaulted into the air just seconds before he would have hit the water. Shooting upwards and through the thick trees, Oogama then looked as if he were hovering in the afternoon sky. The sun was still in full above the western horizon, lighting up the island and making the ocean sparkle. Looking down at the forest below him, Oogama drew his sword.
The blade of the sword was white and mirrorlike, blindingly projecting the rays of the sun off of it's shiny surface. The hilt was silver, and had the insignia of a dragon slightly above the handle. Gazing at his sword, a smile creeped upon his face.
"If you're as powerful as Kokeui claims," Oogama spoke. "Then you should be able to shatter even the largest of boulders with your might."
Looking around, Oogama spotted a large, sharp-edged rock poking out of the forest below him. Raising his sword, Oogama flew down towards the rock with tremendous speed. In one, smooth motion, Oogama brought the blade of the sword cleanly down the middle of the ridgelike structure, backing away after he struck it.
Hikari watched on in amusement from a nearby rock that stood out of the forest in a similar way to the one Oogama had just attacked. She rested her cheek on her hand, which was propped up by a piece of the rock she was sitting on.
"A day's ration bets that it won't break," Hikari called out to him.
"I'll take that bet," Oogama responded. "Just you wait and see."
The two waited for close to three minutes. The towering rock did not give any signs of falling or even breaking. Oogama sweatdropped as Hikari began to giggle.
"Looks like I win," Hikari stated. "Too bad for you."
Oogama gritted his teeth. "Damn sword," he muttered. "It amazes me that Kokeui would even consider giving me this peice of shit metal. It's useless!"
"It's not useless," Hikari corrected, moving a long strand of black, shinny hair from her face. "You just don't know how to use it yet."
Oogama mumbled a few more lines that Hikari could not hear, lowered himself back onto the ground and then dashed off into the forest. Hikari laughed at how easily Oogama became angered. It was pretty funny to watch sometimes, especially when it happens with someone as serious as him.
"For your sake, Oogama," Hikari whispered, repeating a line Oogama had said himself a few days before. "I hope you learn to master that sword, if it will put your soul at peace. You need to be ready for anything that gets in our path during our mission."
Yawning, Hikari looked up at the blue sky. She felt tired, which was understandable since she had been practicing with her own sword all day. The spot she was in was quite comfortable. Closing her eyes, Hikari decided to take a nap under the noon sun, awaiting the darkness that would soon fall over the land.
~*~*~*~*~
The boy with spikey-black hair and penetrating light blue-eyes stared absently into the shadows around him. He sat in complete silence, with no words being spoken, no sounds being made. He appeared to be waiting patiently for something to happen.
'That girl will listen to me,' he thought. 'I can sense that she would rather not do it, but she also doesn't want to take any chances with the threat I gave her.'
The boy smirked. Humans were so gullible that he could not help but to pity them. The people of these modern times were not as educated in the art of magic and spirital happenings as they were in the past. For this reason alone, that Meilin girl could not call the boy's bluff.
"Stupid human," he whispered to himself quietly. "If she had just known a little more, she would know that those you see in visions cannot actively haunt your nightmares."
~*~*~*~*~
Sakura sighed as she solemnly walked home from school. Tomoyo and many of her friends did not show up for school today, and left poor Sakura quite lonely. To her amazement, Sakura had found herself hanging around with Takashi, whom had been telling her about random things and what the 'origin' was behind them. Of course, being as dense as she was, Sakura almost believed everything he had told her.
The usual cherry blossom trees were in full bloom alongside the roads. Sakura had stopped several times along her way to admire them, and suddenly realized that they reminded her of Yukito. It has been about a year since Yukito had moved away, causing Sakura only more emotional pain that added on to when Syaoran had departed.
"When will you come back, Yukito-san?" Sakura asked herself sadly. "And what about you, Syaoran-kun? I miss you both so much..."
Sakura did not want to think about Yukito and Syaoran. She knew that if she continued to let her mind on the subject, she would end up crying by the time she got home.
After about a twenty-minute walk, Sakura had reached the front door to her house. Stepping in, she took off her shoes and walked into the kitchen. There, at the table, she found Touya looking through some old photos.
"Oni-chan?" Sakura asked. "What are you doing?"
"What's it look like, squirt?" Touya answered, scrolling through a stack of pictures that he was holding. Sakura did not say anything, but rather put down her bookbag and pulled up a seat next to him.
"It's Yukito-san," Sakura said, looking at one of the pictures Touya was holding. Touya nodded, and flipped over another one. Sakura felt her heart sink when she saw it.
Touya smirked. "Well, well, well. Wonder why no one ever told me this was here."
Sakura blushed furiously. The picture was of Syaoran and herself kissing, a picture Tomoyo had secretly taken. Sakura just remembered that she had accidentally threw that into the pile of pictures that never were added to the album yet.
Touya gave Sakura a funny look. "Since when have you and the Chinese brat become so intimate?" he asked.
Sakura's face was completely red now. The last thing she wanted was her brother to know anything about the relationship between Syaoran and herself, since she knew that she would never hear the end of it.
"Well, uh... Um..." Sakura attempted to say. Touya had given his full attention to Sakura, making her feel even more uneasy.
"Well, what?" Touya urged.
Sakura turned away. "That's personal business," she had managed to say.
"Really now?" Touya teased. "Still, I think it's kinda odd to find you kissing a boy you've had troubles with before."
Sakura did not say anything. She thought before that her brother would have flipped out on her if he found out about her and Syaoran, but seen that she was wrong. Perhaps Touya felt sympathy towards Sakura, since he too had someone he cared about move away from him.
Touya kicked back in his chair, and looked at another picture. "Yo, squirt," he said. "I figured this picture might be nice for you to keep up in your room."
Touya handed it to Sakura. Taking a close look at the picture, Sakura saw something surprising in it. It was of Touya, Yukito, and Syaoran, all of them at peace with one another for once. They were on the large white staircase located somewhere on school grounds, all three sitting down a step next to each other and looking at the camera.
"When did you guys take this picture?" Sakura asked.
"It was a while ago," Touya replied. "I think about a week before he left. Don't get any ideas, though. I still don't like the Chinese kid."
Sakura sweatdropped. "I could've figured that," she remarked.
At that moment, Kero came flying down the stairs. "Hey, Sakura!" he exclaimed. "You're home!"
Touya gave Kero a dotty look while Sakura greeted Kero. "Hello, Kero-chan!" she said.
"If it isn't the stuffed animal," Touya muttered.
"I heard that," Kero responded angerily. "You're no different than that Li kid!"
"Looks like Li did had some sense in him after all," Touya commented.
'Too much talking about Syaoran-kun,' Sakura's mind told her.
"About as much sense as you have," Kero retorted.
"He must be pretty smart then."
"You're getting on my nerves."
"Good."
Sakura rubbed her eyes while her brother and Kero kept trading insults back and forth among each other. They had been this way ever since the day she had introduced Kero to her family, and neither have shown any signs of getting along.
"Moron!" Kero shouted.
"Bastard!" Touya snapped back.
Sighing, Sakura walked out of the kitchen and towards the stairway. Once upstairs, she opened the door to her room and fell on the bed. A few stuffed animals fell from the bed from the impact, leaving her alone with her pillow and covers. Sakura felt tired. Just when she decided that she would take a nap, she felt a jolt go through her skull.
'I'm sensing something again,' she thought to herself.
Sakura sat up in her bed, looking around slowly in all directions. She was trying to find the source behind the presence she had just felt. After a few moments of looking, she found it.
'It's in the same direction as the one I sensed a few nights ago,' Sakura noted mentally. 'It's giving off bad vibes. Powerful ones... My gosh, I hadn't even sensed this much power from Eriol-kun.'
Sakura felt herself becoming scared. Shaking, she walked over to her desk and got out the Clow Book. Pulling out and holding up the Dark Card, she called apon the Guardian of the Moon Cards.
"Yue-san!" Sakura said in a demanding voice. "Come forth!"
Suddenly, on the floor near her television, a Clow Insignia appeared. Above it, a pair of white, glowing wings came into sight, slowly separating to reveal the Moon Guardian. His long, white hair gave the off the same essence that his wings did, and his celestial white robe moved softly with the small winds he created. After his startling appearance, Yue looked down at Sakura.
"You beckoned?" he asked.
"Yue-san!" Sakura said desperately. "I sense trouble."
"Trouble?" Yue questioned thoughtfully. "What sort of trouble?"
"A magical disturbance," Sakura answered. "Far off to the west. I sense an evil power, one greater than Eriol-kun's."
Yue looked in the western direction of Sakura's room. "I don't sense anything," he said after a moment.
"Kero-chan couldn't sense it before either," Sakura said with a nodd. "Though last time it was vague. This time, I can sense it clearly."
"You say it's evil?" Yue asked. "Have you ever truly felt an evil power before?"
Sakura lowered her head. "I'm not sure," she replied. "You didn't turn out to be evil, and neither did Eriol-kun. No, I don't think so. But, there's just something about this one... It makes me feel really uneasy."
Yue returned his glance to Sakura. "Evil is not something easy to sense. While Kero and I can sense evil, we cannot sense pure evil presences. This is similar to the situation we had back in the older days with one of Clow's other creations."
Sakura gave Yue a puzzling look with her emerald green-eyes. "Clow Reed had another creation?"
"Yes," Yue answered simply. "However, Ceroberos and I do not remember much about him. All we know was that this creation was radically powerful, and was created from all of the evil within Clow Reed himself. Another source of his great power was the negative energy given off by the seal."
Sakura was lost. "Wha?" she asked.
"It's too long a story to explain how he, the creation, came to be," Yue said. "Anyway, he was pure evil since the start of his life. Ceroberos and I could not sense him. Over time, though, we had noticed that his heart and thoughts were becoming more merciful and caring, and were eventually able to sense a small part of him."
"So, is this why you can't sense that power?" Sakura asked.
"Most likely," Yue answered. "But that isn't a good thing. Pure evil powers are always terribly strong."
Sakura bit her lower lip. "What am I going to do then?"
"Wait," Yue answered. "You cannot do anything against something unknown until it's staring you in the face."
Sakura nodded, although what Yue had said was not exactly what she wanted to hear. Being a quick thinker in the face of danger was Syaoran's job, not her's.
Yue walked over to the Clow Book. "Ever since Yukito and I have separated bodies, I've been feeling slightly weaker," he stated. "But, now that we're not sharing the same body, I can increase my magical powers beyond the limits they were with him being fused with me. It will take time, but it will be worth it, as I will be a more powerful ally."
Sakura sat down on her bed and listened to Yue. He was full of wisdom, obviously something he obtained from Clow Reed. Yue was also the closest thing they had to a leader at the moment.
"When your day of trouble arises, I will be ready to aid you," Yue said to Sakura. "Ceroberos will be ready as well. In the meantime, please allow me to rest."
"Alright," Sakura permitted. Yue was then completely surrounded by his wings once more, and disappeared into a blinding light. Once he had left, Sakura laid down on her bed, the evil presence still fresh in her senses.
"What am I going to do?" she asked herself quietly. "I just got this really horrible feeling that something bad is going to happen... And it's going to happen soon."
~*~*~*~*~
After they had gone to get something to eat, Syaoran somehow found himself following Meilin around in the crowded streets of Hong Kong. Meilin had told him that she had to stop by at the airport, for what reason Syaoran could not guess. The only possible one would be that she must have been expecting someone.
After crossing about a dozen streets and avoiding other people along the way, Syaoran and Meilin finally found themselves outside of the airport. After letting out a relieved sigh, Meilin spoke.
"It's about time we made it."
Syaoran looked at her intently. "Now, could you tell me why we're here?" he asked.
"It's simple," Meilin said. "We're here to see Eriol."
"ERIOL?!?" Syaoran said furiously. "That damn no good flirting peice of trash... Meilin, you know I hate him! Why did you drag me here with you?"
"Because, I would've been lonely without someone with me," she said innocently, giving Syaoran puppy eyes. Syaoran wanted to hit her, but decided to restrain his anger. Maybe if he was lucky, he would get to take it out on Eriol, or perhaps turn it into laughter if he had received news that Eriol's plane had crashed, and no survivors were found.
The two proceeded to walk through the automatic glass doors of the large building. Once inside, it seemed like they were in a small world. There were hundreds of people all around them, filling up a majority of the space inside of the airport.
Syaoran and Meilin made their way to the escalators. "Eriol's flight number is 764," Meilin commented. "It'll be on the lower level."
They took the escalators leading to the lower floor, finding themselves in a luggage pickup area. The room (which was also filled with people) was bordered with several large windows, all giving views of the runway outside. To their far left was a passageway that had a digital sign above it, reading "Flight 764". Syaoran and Meilin walked over to the conveyer belt for the luggage near there, and found a boy with blue hair wearing a fancy gray suit. Next to him stood a woman with long, brown hair whom was wearing a white blouse and miniskirt that were trimmed in pink lacing.
Syaoran glared at the boy. "Eriol Hiiragizawa," he said silently.
Eriol turned around towards Syaoran and Meilin, noticing them for the first time. "Meilin! Li! Good to see you both again!"
"Hello, Eriol," Meilin greeted, smiling. "Hi, Nakaru."
"Good to see you again, Meilin," Nakaru said. "And Li, you're looking as handsome as ever."
Syaoran gave Nakaru a sort of nod, and returned his attention to Meilin. "Alright, just what exactly is going on?" he asked. "What just caused Eriol to get his London-dwelling ass up and pay his dear 'friend' Syaoran a visit?"
"Why don't you ask him?" Meilin asked.
"It's because Li isn't very fond of me," Eriol answered for him. "Meilin, tell Syaoran why in a little while. In the meantime, you two wouldn't mind showing Nakaru and I around Hong Kong, would you...?"
"Of course not," Meilin replied. "C'mon. There's a lot that we all need to get caught up on."
Eriol and Nakaru picked up their suitcases and followed Meilin and Syaoran towards the exit. All of them were in high spirits. All except for Syaoran.
~*~*~*~*~
The spikey-black haired boy stood in the darkness, knowing full and well that Eriol, Clow's reincarnation, had finally arrived.
"The time is at hand," he spoke aloud. "This eternal prison will be broken, and I will be free once more."
His eyes began glowing an ominous light-blue. "Sakura shall pay for Clow's debts, and then Clow's reincarnation himself. May my wrath bring the entire world to it's knees! After 500 years, the hour has come for the Shadow Soldier to re-awaken!"
~<{Finish}>~
That's it for Chapter 2. The next chapter will reveal one of the major characters of the entire story (as if you couldn't guess who), so it should be interesting if you like the story so far. Review if you can. Till next time, see ya.
--ssGoku138