Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ The Clow Child ❯ The Ascension ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Summary: Sakura takes desperate measures to restore Syaoran's life, and the whole world suffers from her actions.

~...~ are thoughts.

Clow Child, Part 5 of 5: The Ascension


Sakura had insisted that his eyes stay open. Wei hadn't been sure why, at first. He initially figured that she was in denial, and that if she stared into his eyes, she could pretend that he was still alive. But Sakura had a more significant reason. She was the last person Syaoran had seen before he died, and her eyes were the last thing he saw. Though she truly believed he was dead, Sakura kept blindly hoping that he might wake up at any moment. If that miracle happened to come true, she wanted her face to be the first to welcome him back.

Wei glanced over at her. She was still leaning over the table, peering closely at Syaoran's face. Every now and then, she would reach up and carefully brush a hair back into place, or remove a piece of lint from his blood-stained costume. Fortunately, Wei had managed to seal up the wound, so if Syaoran did happen to be restored, he wouldn't be in too much pain and die all over again from shock.

"Sakura."

She blinked and raised her head. "Yes, Wei?"

He paused for a moment. "How much did you care for Syaoran?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Wei paused again. "Let me rephrase that. How far would you go to bring him back?"

"I'd do anything," she replied instantly.

"In that case, I may have a solution. One of the Clow Child's powers includes the ability to create new Clow Cards."

"Really?" Sakura looked at Syaoran's body. "So why didn't he?"

"For two reasons. First, because he would have needed more Clow Cards to do so. Second, I never told him. I thought his powers might be to unstable to attempt something like that. Great focus is required."

"But why are you telling me this? Doesn't he need to be alive to do that?"

Wei sighed. "He may yet live again. If you were serious about doing anything, that is. But I must warn you, if anything goes wrong, neither Syaoran nor you will ever be the same again."

"I'll risk it," Sakura replied. "Tell me what to do."

* * * * *

"Wake up, Syaoran. You must prepare."

Syaoran slowly opened his eyes. ~This is a dream. I'm dead. This isn't real.~

"It's very real," the voice replied, "though not in the way you're thinking."

Syaoran finally spotted the person that was speaking. It was an older man with long, dark hair, and a smiling, peaceful face, donned with glasses. "Who are you?"

"I am your ancestor, Clow Reed."

"What are you doing here?"

"I only appear to those I have chosen to bear my name, Syaoran. I've come to tell you that your time isn't up yet. There is still much for you to do."

"But I'm dead."

Clow chuckled. "Yes, but not for long. It seems you have a very resourceful guardian angel." He drew a crystal ball out of his pocket and held it up. "You see? Even now, she is trying to save you."

Syaoran peered into the ball. He could see Kero and Sakura standing on the roof of a tower. For some reason, the scene seemed familiar. "What's she doing?"

"As I said, she is trying to save you. Let us hope that she succeeds."

* * * * *

Even though it had been hours ago, Sakura could still hear Wei's words in her mind.

~"Every person in existence has life energy inside them, Sakura. When a person dies, they lose that energy. Syaoran can't be restored unless you can gather enough life energy."~

~"Can't I just give him my own?" she'd asked.~

~"No, because then YOU would die. Instead of taking a lot of energy from one person, it's better to take a little from more than one person."~

~"So...the more people I can find...the less I'll have to take from each one?"~

~"Exactly, but you must be extremely careful. You must be focused solely on gathering the energy for Syaoran, because if you become distracted, you might accidentally send the energy to another person."~

Sakura took a deep breath and drew a Clow Card from her pocket. "I hope this works. Ready, Kero?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. Go for it, Sakura, and stay focused!"

She nodded and raised the Card. "Sleep Card, make everyone in town fall asleep now! Release and dispel!"

As Sakura struck the Card, it seemed to explode outward. A sparking dust filled the air, quickly spreading throughout the town. In a few seconds, the dust was gone.

"Okay, they should all be asleep by now. All we have to do is get the energy." Sakura raised her wand high into the air. "Wand of Clow, help me gather the energy I need to restore Syaoran!"

The wand flashed for a moment, then gave off a low humming sound as it radiated with power. Soon, Sakura could see little green bits of life energy rising up all over town. They all traveled toward the wand and became trapped inside it.

While Sakura gathered the energy, Kero was keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Just like Syaoran had, he noticed something familiar about the place. ~I don't know why, but I've got a feeling that we've been here before...haven't we?~

He was going to dismiss it as a bad dream when he spotted something across the way. There was another tower not too far from the one they were standing on. Kero wasn't sure, but he thought he'd seen something black moving inside it. Still, he couldn't warn Sakura. If he did, she'd lose her focus and the spell would be ruined.

Just then, Sakura gasped. "Oh, no!"

"What is it?" Kero asked.

"It's not enough! We still need a lot more energy, but I can't risk taking any more from the people here!"

"We could try the next town over," Kero suggested.

Sakura shook her head. "It won't be enough, Kero. There's only one thing we can do." She swallowed noisily. "We have to borrow energy from people all over the world."

"What?! Sakura, that's crazy! If something were to go wrong, you could end up killing everyone! One life isn't worth all the others on the planet!"

She turned away from him and took another look at the sleeping town below. When she faced him again, there were tears in her eyes. "I know I'm being selfish, Kero, but I want him back. Syaoran died because of me. I want him back more than anything else I've ever wanted in my life, and I'll do anything to make that happen. I'll understand if you don't want to help me, but I won't let you stop me. You can either leave right now, or try to help me stay focused."

Kero stared at her in silence for a few moments. ~I didn't believe it before, but she really does love that kid.~ Finally, he sighed. "You'll need to put them to sleep first."

Sakura smiled and affectionately kissed his head. "Thanks, Kero-chan."

"Just don't make me regret this, Sakura."

* * * * *

"It is almost time, Syaoran. Are you ready to return to the land of the living?"

"I think so," he said slowly.

"You have doubts?" Clow asked.

"It just seems too easy. Nothing we've done has ever been this easy."

There was a strange look in Clow's eyes as he whispered, "Indeed."

* * * * *

"Almost done," Sakura said absently. The wand was almost full now, and she had to grip it with both hands to keep from dropping it.

Kero just watched in silence. ~I never thought Sakura would take such a big chance like this. But it is good to see she's powerful enough to handle it.~

In that instant, their luck took a turn for the worst. A black shadow rose up in front of them, blocking out the light of the moon. "Did you think I wouldn't find you?" it asked, glaring down at them. "Did you think a simple sword could finish me for good?"

"Sakura, RUN!" Kero shouted.

Sakura didn't move. "Almost...there. Just...ten more seconds."

The shadow chuckled. "That wand looks heavy. Allow me to assist you."

"NO!" Kero shouted, flying towards the wand.

The shadow's long fingers slowly closed around the wand, and then, for exactly three seconds, everything turned black.

* * * * *

"You knew!" Syaoran shouted in anger. "You knew this would happen!"

"I knew she would not have an easy time of it," Clow replied. "There is, however, still a chance for success. If she can find the one force that can defeat the shadow, you will be restored."

"If she doesn't?"

Clow frowned. "Then you're going to be here for quite some time, Syaoran..."

* * * * *

Sakura screamed as the shadow took on a more familiar shape.

"What's the matter, my dear, sweet Sakura?" it asked. "Aren't you happy to see me again?"

"Get away from me!" Sakura backed up, trying to keep a safe distance between them.

"What? No kiss this time?"

"You're not him! You're not Syaoran!"

The shadow chuckled. "But I am!" He gestured toward his costume. "I have Syaoran's clothes, Syaoran's body, and Syaoran's mind." He grinned evilly and came closer. "And soon, I'll have his beloved partner."

"What do you want from me?!" Sakura cried.

The shadow stopped advancing. "The same thing Syaoran wanted from you, my dear. It's fun being evil, but only if you have someone to share it with. Join me, Sakura. You can't deny that you liked it when I was controlling you. You liked being evil, didn't you?"

"No, I hated it! I'll never join you! Don't touch me!"

The shadow frowned. "Have it your way." He drew a sword and advanced again. "You've already given me the energy that was meant for Syaoran. You should have accepted me as Syaoran. Now you'll find out that I'm even better than he was. He couldn't hurt you...but I most certainly will!"

Sakura finally stopped backing away. She couldn't give up now. She had to do this. Syaoran was depending on her, and she needed to see his face again, more than anything else in the world. She couldn't let this evil being win. She'd made a promise to Syaoran, and she was going to keep it. "This is for you, Syaoran," she whispered, taking a deep breath.

The shadow laughed again and raised the sword. "Goodbye, CardCaptor!"

Sakura flew at him and drove her fists into his chest. The shadow fell backwards and tumbled to the edge of the tower, where he managed to stop himself. He looked up to see Sakura ripping away the supports. "What are you doing?!" he cried. "You'll bring the whole tower down!"

"I know," Sakura replied. "Hope you've got some wings of your own, because Syaoran can't fly." With that, she grabbed the central support and ripped it out.

The tower gave a loud groan, then slowly started to fall. In a few seconds, it would crash to the ground, destroying a large part of the town.

"You fool! You'll kill us both!" the shadow screamed.

Sakura merely smiled. "Not both of us." She kicked him in the face, then raised her hands. "Freeze!" she yelled.

Time stopped all around them.

Sakura gritted her teeth as she pulled the wand from the shadow's grasp and wrapped and arm around his waist. She wrapped another arm around the tower and pulled. After a few seconds of groaning protest, the tower came loose from its foundation. Sakura flew into the air, carry the shadow and the tower away from town. She only hoped her idea would work.

It wasn't until an hour later that she realized Kero was missing.

* * * * *

Most of the town didn't know what to think about the news report. Word of the freak tornado and its strange pattern of destruction had spread quickly. Apparently, the only thing that had suffered was the one of the main towers, which had been discovered nearly fifty miles away in a barren field. There was only one casualty, though the victim's name was unknown at the time.

Perhaps the strangest part of the report was that some police offers had reported seeing a strange figure flying away from the tower just before they arrived. Some passed it off as a large bird, but others swore on their badges that it was an angel.

* * * * *

"So you're saying I can't go back?" Syaoran asked.

Clow Reed shook his head. "The shadow has tainted your image. I'm simply saying that if you go back, you will be...different. Sakura may not even recognize you, depending on when she gets the energy required."

Syaoran sighed and sat down. "What's the point of going back if she doesn't know me?"

"I said she might not. In any event, you must go back. There is much to be done, and she cannot do it alone. Which reminds me, you'll need an anchor. Someone from the living world to help you make it back."

"Like who?"

"Like me, kid," Kero replied as he appeared on Clow's shoulder.

Syaoran sighed again and closed his eyes. "This is so not my night."

* * * * *

"You said it would work."

Wei shook his head. "I said there was a slim chance of it working, and that was only if nothing went wrong. I would classify an evil shadow possessing the energy first as something that was very wrong!"

"So you're saying I can't bring him back?" Sakura asked.

"I'm saying it's risky. He might be...changed, somehow. A change you might not like very much."

As if on cue, Syaoran's right arm suddenly twitched.

Sakura shoved Wei aside and leaned over the body. "Syaoran?! Can you hear me?!"

Syaoran grunted and slowly opened his eyes. "Stop," he whispered.

"Stop what?"

"Pain," he replied, shutting his eyes tightly. "Hurts bad."

"Where does it hurt? Where?" Sakura gently pressed a hand to his forehead. Fortunately, it was warm.

"Back," he muttered, rolling on his side. "Back hurts."

Sakura ran her fingers along his spine. "There?" she asked.

He shook his head, and then screamed.

Sakura looked down, and found out why. Something was coming out of his back. It looked red at first, but then she realized that it was covered in blood. Whatever the thing was, it was actually black. "Syaoran, what's happening to you?" she whispered fearfully.

Meiling happened to walk into the lab at the moment. She took one look at Syaoran's back and fainted.

Wei covered Sakura's eyes. "It's best that you don't look." Even so, after witnessing the transformation, Wei wished someone had been there to cover his eyes, as well.

He finally removed his hand, and Sakura gasped.

To be honest, Syaoran wasn't really himself. His hair was still brown, though it was much longer and there was much more of it. He was a bit taller than before, and his nails had grown into large claws. The most startling development was the pair of black, leathery wings on his back. In addition, his eyes were almost totally crimson now, and there was little or no humanity in them.

"Don't move," Wei whispered.

Sakura ignored him and stepped forward. "Syaoran?" she asked, offering her hand to him.

The creature shrank back, growling in anger. It flew into the air and crashed through the window, screeching as it vanished into the night.

* * * * *

Sakura had hoped it was all a horrible nightmare. Something that hadn't really happened. But she was reminded that it was all too real. Especially when she woke up to find a shadow by the window.

Before she could think to scream, a paw was pressed against her lips, and a voice whispered, "It's only me, Sakura."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Kero-chan?"

He nodded. "Listen, I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that Syaoran will never be the same."

"And the good news?" she asked.

"Well...he's here right now." Kero gestured to the window.

Sakura was expecting to see the creature that had frightened her so much earlier that night. She wasn't expecting black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes that could look into her very soul, but that's exactly what she found.

"I know this must seem strange, Sakura," he whispered, "but it really is me."

"But...you had black wings...and claws..."

He pressed a finger to her lips. "That wasn't me, Sakura. I'm afraid that when the shadow took my form, he really took it. I can't look the way I used to anymore, so Clow Reed gave me this body instead. I think it belonged to one of his other descendants."

"Then...it's still out there?"

He nodded. "We will stop it, eventually. I should go and give you some time to think."

Sakura grabbed his hand as he started to leave. "If you really are Syaoran...does that mean you..."

He smiled. "You can still call me Syaoran, Sakura. And my feelings for you haven't changed. I can only hope you can get used to this the way I'll have to." He leaned over and gently kissed the corner of her mouth. "Sleep well, my angel."

Sakura watched as he faded from sight. "Kero-chan, things are going to be a lot weirder from now on, aren't they?"

"I couldn't have said it better, Sakura."


The End.


I know, horrible place to end it, but there's more, I promise!