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Chapter 1: Questions |
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"Huh boy, this dream again... |
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The cherry blossoms... the Clow Cards... |
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Li... |
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On that other building...why is his sword in his left hand? |
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He sees me... |
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It's...a rose...in his right hand... |
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He looks at it, then at me... |
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He tosses it to me... |
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It's a few feet away from my hand..." |
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"Huh?" Sukura whispered. "Oh. It's the middle of the night. I should go back to sleep." But before she did, she tried to figure out the dream. "What does the rose mean?" she muttered before closing her eyes... |
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"What? |
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I'm back in the dream? |
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Why isn't Li on the other building? |
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And...Oh, no. The figure in shadows is up there again... |
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But it's someone different?I'm sure... |
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The long, black hair... |
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The...patchwork dress... |
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The glowing bracelet... |
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Who the heck are you?" |
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Suddenly the figure turns around (She has been staring at the radio tower). |
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"Her eyes... |
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They're so... |
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Empty..." |
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She woke up again, this time at 6:30 a.m. "Yes!" she whispered. She got up happily, grinning because her brother wasn't up yet, until she remembered the dreams. Still trying to figure them out, she slipped out the door. She met her brother's newest friend, Sapphire (or as most people preferred to call her, Sophie), on her scooter. Sophie was quiet, yet extremely funny and had very strong opinions, and also had a sense of direction and leadership. She was also so pretty that Tory had a genuine crush on her. No one could blame him, especially the other boys who liked her. She had blond hair with half-curls hovering 2 inches above her shoulders, black eyes, and a very high height. Oh, and did I mention that she's from Miami? |
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Back to the story -- |
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When Sukura came into class, she met Li. "Li, is anything wrong? At all?" she asked. Li blushed. "No, why?" he asked. "Oh, no reason. I was just... umm... curious." Li raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, you're the one with the prophetic dream thingy," "Ooooohhhh riiiiigght," said Sukura, just remembering the fact. |
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The day processed normally. |
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***** |
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That night, Sukura couldn't sleep. She tossed, turned, kicked and moaned, but it didn't do any good. Finally, she turned over and looked at the clock. It was approximately 11:59:02 p.m. In 58 seconds it'd be midnight. 46...23...5... Sukura's head nodded, then shot up again. Suddenly, exactly a second before midnight, the clock stopped. Then it started going again...faster...faster...too fast to count...Then it stopped...and then went backwards...you get the picture...and finally stopped at... |
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"Hey, Squirt, do the words, 'You're gonna be late' ring a bell? Such as a school bell?" |
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Sukura woke up, startled. She knew, she inexplicably knew, that she had to use the Return Card at approximately 3:30 p.m. in the park, exactly in the Penguin Slide. And that Li had to be there. |
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She told Li about it ( of course). |
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That afternoon, right when school was over, they ran to the penguin slide. Sukura called upon the Return card. A circle with a clock on it appeared in the ground. The clock started to spin. 'Just like in my dream!' Sukura thought, and when it stopped, they could see the transparent image of a person, squatting, and clutching her head. When the clock started to go backwards, a high-pitched scream filled the air... |
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And when it was all over, a girl was squatting there. She had black, long, thin, and raggedy hair, and eyes that were such a shade of fudge-like brown that they seemed to hold other colors as well, yet this glory could not mask the intense fear and emptiness that smothered their beauty (note down all these describing words). She had skin that was a shade away from pure white, and she was scrawny. She stood up, still shivering. She looked at Li, then at Sukura. Apparently being a loss for words, she whispered, "Hi," in a tiny voice. |
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"Hello," Sukura said brightly, smiling and extending her hand. "my name's Sukura, what's yours?" |
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"Ummm?my name -- and I am not going to lie -- is Izuyu, which is pretty... unique, isn't it? Heh..." "Well, I'm Li Showron..." Izuyu's eyebrows went to heaven. "Oh, right," She turned to Sukura. "You're last name's Avalon, right??" "Well, yeah," said Sukura. Upon hearing these words, Izuyu looked as is she had just heard that Christmas was now twice a year. "OK! Now have a seat and I will explain everything." |
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They had a seat. |
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"OK, " Izuyu said, her voice now like a regular girl's voice. "My full name is Izuyu Showron Taylor. And I'm your granddaughter. Surprise, surprise." At this Li and Sukura both stared at this girl as if she had said that Hitler was a woman. "You came all this way just to tell us that? Thank you, now you can go home," said Li. "I wouldn't be here if I had a decent space of land which I liked to call home." She eyed him. "Let me finish, Grandpa. When I was 4 years old, the world was attacked by a great Evil," she shuddered slightly. "It was only one attack. One attack was all it needed to kill millions. And those who didn't die either lingered for awhile, then died, were physically or mentally scarred, or were in perfect condition, and left to suffer. My father died in the attack, and my mother passed away soon after. I lived on a little flat all by myself until last week, when I found out that the bank was giving out family heirlooms. The place was packed, and I received a package from you, dropped off there several years before. It contained the Clow, a patchwork piece of material, and a bracelet. I found out that, because my great-grandfather was half the reincarnation of Clow Reed, my grandfather was the other half, I had two grandparents who were cardcaptors, a great-uncle who could see ghosts, and the magic had skipped my parents, that I am the Ultimate Cardcaptor. Pretty important title, eh?" |
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And at this Sukura's jaw dropped, and Li said, "Somehow, I am not comforted." |
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"Anyway, I came here because apparently you could have gone forward in time and stopped all that. I figured that you didn't know about it, so I came here not only to tell you about this, but also to help you. First things first, however. Do you have a good restaurant that we could go to?" |
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They got some ice cream, and Izuyu bought them a multi-flavor sundae, helping to pay for it. "Mmmmmm... dee-lish," she said, licking her spoon delightfully. "So, Izuyu," Sukura asked, "what is your world like?" Izuyu put her spoon into her mouth. "Well..." she began. "The sky almost always is cloudy. The buildings are crumbling, the people are inconsiderate, and no one will take the time just to be your buddy. I mean, we don't have any ice cream for heaven's sake!" |
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