The Untold Story

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - Fanfiction by Misty

Notes:
“...” spoken words
*...* thoughts
~~~~~~~~~ scene changes/flashbacks (wont be too many flashbacks)
(...) Authors Notes

Disclaimer: these characters don't belong to me, they belong to Clamp; only the made up characters are mine....read on

Chapter 1: The Beginning (top)

On a very dark night in the center of Tokyo, three figures in long robes emerged from the shadows. The figure in the middle seemed to be holding some kind of book. The figures on the sides ran ahead of him to what looked like a temple. The figure with the book walked through the temple courtyard and over to a shrine, placed the book on a pedestal and then placed his hand over the book. After muttering some words, he stepped back from the pedestal....Suddenly, the book flew open and some objects were ejected into the night sky. After the objects had completely vanished, the figure walked back over to the pedestal, and with an evil grin, closed and picked up the book; then, with the other two figures, walked back down the street and vanished...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
later that day....


<*ring!*>
“Huh?” said Misty as she rose from her pillow. She picked up her alarm clock and shut it off. Then she looked at it...
“OH, NO! I'm late!” she said. She quickly got up, dressed and put her long, brown hair into their usual pigtails; she raced down the stairs, backpack in hand.
“MOM! My alarm clock went off late again!” said Misty...
“Well, you better get off to school now, or you'll be later then usual,” said her green-eyed mother.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she said as she ran out the door.
“You know, Sakura,” said Misty's father, “she's exactly like you used to be...late for everything.”
“Oh Li, don't start with me again!” said Sakura. “She may be like me in many ways, but I don't think you can inherit punctuality.”
“Whatever you say, Sakura,” said Li.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later, when Misty arrived at school...


"HEY MISTY!" yelled a girl standing in front of a large school.
"HEY SABRINA!" called Misty.
"Hurry up, the bell is about to ring!" said Sabrina as she ran over to Misty with her short, black hair bouncing.
"I know, but it's not like it would be anything new, we're always late, they should be used to it by now,” said Misty.
“Just hurry up! We're supposed to have a math test this morning,” said Sabrina.
“OH NO!!!! I FORGOT ABOUT THE MATH TEST!” screamed Misty.
“Another thing that's not new,” smirked Sabrina.
“Ha ha,” retorted Misty.
<*RING!*>
“Oh no, there's the bell, Mist!” said a running Sabrina.
“Hey! Wait for me!” called Misty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
after school...


*Oh, I wish I had remembered to study for that test this morning...let's see, what did I put for number...*
“Hey Misty, you wanna go to the mall later?” asked her friend, Terri as she jogged up the steps to meet Misty.
“Yeah, sure, I guess; you wanna come too S?” asked Misty.
“Can't, I've got a project in Photography due tomorrow and I haven't started yet! See you guys!” said Sabrina.
“BYE!” they both yelled.
“I guess we can go at 5, is that OK for you?” asked Terri.
“Sure, sounds great, Terr” said Misty.
“Oh, and Leslie's coming too; we'll see you then Misty!” said Terri.
“BYE!” screamed Misty.
*I wonder....na.....forget it Misty,* she thought to herself.
As Misty returned home she spotted a boy, about her age, with brown hair and the biggest green eyes she'd ever seen standing in front of her house.
*Who's that?* she thought as she walked over to him...Just then, a bus was coming down the street, so she stopped on the opposite side of the road. But when the bus passed, he was gone...
*Where did he go? Did I imagine him? Oh come on Misty! You can't be THAT desperate for a boyfriend* she thought as she tossed one pigtail over her shoulder. Then, she crossed the street and entered her house.
“MOM! DAD! I'm home!” she shouted as she ran up the stairs to her room.
*Huh? What's that? It's that feeling again? But why am I getting it in my house?*
“Oh well,” she said. Then she changed out of her school uniform and into her “mall clothes” (a black, sleeveless shirt with a silver star in the middle and her flare jeans).
“Well, I better get going...I'll leave a note for Mom and Dad....so they don't grill me when I get home,” she said as she jumped down the stairs.


“Mom or Dad,
Went to the mall, it's 4:30PM
Be back later! Call me on my cell if you
need me!
Love ya,
Misty”
Then, she left her house and jumped onto her bike.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
later in the mall parking lot....


*Hmmm......that's strange, there's no one here...usually the mall's packed at this time...* Misty thought.
Just then a black van pulled up and stopped at the entrance.
“HEY MISTY!” yelled two waving girls.
“OH, HEY TERRI! HEY LESLIE!” said Misty as she crossed the parking lot and joined her friends.
“Say, uh guys” said Misty, “don't you think it's kinda weird that no one's here?...maybe we should come back later when there's more people.”
“Oh come on Misty,” said Leslie, “everyone's just working, besides, it's better when you don't have to dodge everyone! Come on, let's hit the food court!”
They walked up to the entrance and entered through the automatic doors.
*This just doesn't seem right, where is everyone? I'm getting that weird feeling in the pit of my stomach again....it happens every time something bad is gonna happen...but what does it mean now?* thought Misty.
“Come on Mist! Let's go!” cried Terri.
So they walked around for a while and sat down in the food court. Misty still had that feeling, but she didn't know why.
“Misty? Are you OK?” asked Leslie.
“Huh?! Oh yeah, I'm fine,” she said.
*Come on Misty,* she thought to herself, *stop scaring yourself...there's nothing wrong, everything is perfectly normal.*
She closed her eyes and rubbed her head.
*Maybe I should be getting more sleep...* she thought. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that Leslie and Terri were staring off into space...
“Guys? Are you OK?” she asked.
“.........,” no response.
She got up from her seat, “I'll be right back, OK guys?”
“........,” no response.
She left the food court and walked around, looking for someone, ANYONE! Then she spotted a girl sitting on a bench by a fountain. She ran over to her,
“Hi,” she said to the girl.
“Hello,” responded the girl.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked, sitting down.
“Of course....,” she said.
“Oh, sorry, I'm Misty.”
“I'm Mika...so what did you wanna ask me?”
“Oh, right, do you find it odd that no one's here on a Friday evening? I mean, besides my friends, you're the only one I've seen. And believe me, I know this is a weird question, but I had to ask,” she said.
“Well, I do admit, it IS odd,” said Mika, “but I have to say, it's nice...I like the silence...by the way if you see a dumb looking guy with brown hair and green eyes walking around, could you tell him Mika is looking for him...he's my stupid brother and I can't find him.”
“Sure...ok, I will,” said Misty.
Just then Misty saw Leslie and Terri walking, still looking dazed, toward her and Mika. She looked at them and tried to waved them over, but they ignored her and turned the corner.
“Excuse me,” Misty said to Mika.
“Sure,” said Mika.
She ran over to the corner to catch her friends, but when she turned, they were gone....

Chapter 2 (top)

*Oh my gosh! Where did they go!* Misty thought to herself. Just then she spotted a tall, teenage boy with brown hair and mystical green eyes....
*Hey, that looks like the boy that Mika described as her brother...wait a minuet! That's the guy that was in front of my house earlier!*
So she strolled over in his direction, but felt a strong force coming from him, and turned away.
*WHOA! This is weird! I've never gotten this feeling from a person before...I wonder what it means...maybe it means he's dangerous...I'll just go back to the bench and sit with Mika*
So she walked back around the corner and saw the bench Mika had been at, but no Mika...
*Great! Did she disappear too!*
“Wait! I know how I can get out of here!” she cried.
She walked back through the food court and back to the entrance.
*Yes! Now I can leave this awful nightmare.* she thought.
She went to pull on the door, when...
“It's locked...” said a tall man standing in a dark corner.
“Huh?” Misty said as she looked in his direction, “Oh...who are you? I'm....”
“--Misty Showron, yes, I know....” said the man.
“How do you know my name? Do I know you or something?” Misty asked.
“In a way we've met before, I am Eli Moon, (also, known as Eriol-kun), the reincarnation of Clow Reed himself.”
“Clow Reed? Um, am I supposed to know who or what that is?” Misty asked as she squinted her dark, emerald green eyes and tilted her head.
“Your parents have never mentioned Clow Reed before? I am confused...” said Eli, “Are your parents not Sakura Avalon and Li Showron?”
“Yeah, they are...why, do you know them?” Misty asked.
“Yes, which is why I am surprised they have not mentioned anything about Clow Reed before...” said Eli.
“Why? Who is he? Is he related to me?” asked Misty.
“No, you do not know him...but I will allow your parents to explain this to you, after all, they DID choose not to tell you, they must have a good reason.” Eli said, while looking around the mall with his intense, black eyes.
“Yeah, we'll see about that...” mumbled Misty, “By the way, can you help me get out of here?”
Well, to tell you the truth,” responded Eli, “I don't know any other ways out.”
“You're kidding me, right?” said Misty, as she placed her hands on her hips.
“No, I kid you not...I am sorry though...“ said Eli, “You know Misty Showron, you could always call your parents and tell them what's going on, I guarantee you they'd be here in a flash....By the by, what is that key around your neck for?”
“Oh, this?” she asked, fingering her winged-star key necklace. “My mom gave it to me for my birthday when I was 10...It used to be hers when she was a little girl...she told me it's very special...”
“May I see that?” asked Eli.
“Uh, yeah, OK...” Misty said as she removed her necklace.
After examining it for quite some time, Eli finally shouted, “Yes! Yes! I knew it! I knew this was it!”
“What are you talking about?” asked Misty, “it's just a necklace.”
“Oh, I'm sorry, here you are,” he said as he handed it back, “you know, your mother is right, this is definitely a very special key...I mean necklace.”
“Right...Why?” asked Misty as she raised her thin, brown eyebrow and clipped the necklace back around her neck.
“For all the questions you have, the answer lies with your parents; They hold the key to your destiny...” Eli responded while walking away.
*What does he mean `the key to my destiny?'* Misty thought. *Oh well, maybe I should call mom and dad.*
With that, she reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone, dialed her home number, and waited...
<*ring!*>
<*ring!*>
<*ri--*> “Hello?” said a woman's voice.
“Um, Mom, It's Misty...I need your help with something...”

Chapter 3 (top)

“What's wrong Misty? Do you need a ride home?” asked a very worried Sakura.
“No, Mom,” explained Misty, “it's not like that....I need you to come to the mall and--”
“Well,” Sakura interrupted, “that sounds like I'm picking you up, but whatever you say, be there in a--”
“NO MOM! Let me finish; the people at the mall have vanished, including Terri and Leslie.” she said swinging her long hair behind her shoulders. “I don't know what to do because I can't leave, all the doors are locked; and to top it off, some guy that I don't even know told me to call you, so here I am.”
Just then, Misty got the feeling that someone was watching her; she turned around, but saw nothing, so she shrugged it off.
“Misty, what do you mean they `vanished'? There has to be someone there besides you somewhere! It's a mall, everyone goes there; and why are you talking to strangers?” Sakura replied, tucking her auburn hair behind her ear.
Misty sighed (-_-')
“Mom, what other meaning does `vanished' have? Also, that guy, he wasn't a stranger, he said he knew you and dad when you guys were kids.”
*Knew us as kids? Who could that be?* thought Sakura.
“Misty, did he give you his name?”
“Yeah, he said it was...Eli...Eli Moon; something like that.” replied Misty, “Do you remember him?”
*ELI?! Oh my goodness! Where the heck did he come from?! And what's he doing back in Japan?!* Sakura thought.
“Ok Mist, your father and I will be there shortly,” she said *If there's not too much traffic.* “Hang in there!” With that Sakura hung up the phone and ran up the stairs and down the hall.
“Li! Li! Where are you?” called Sakura impatiently.
“What's wrong Sakura?” responded Li as he poked his head full of chocolate brown hair from behind a wall.
“It's Misty, I'll explain on the way to the mall, come on!” she said frantically, as beads of sweat dripped off her chin. Sakura grabbed her shoes and pulled Li out to the car. They jumped in, and sped off down the dimly lit street. (Shame, shame...this is a neighbor hood...you're only supposed to go 15 MPH...oh well, on with the story.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later on at the mall...
Misty sat worriedly by the entrance. *What if I never see my friends again? Oh, this so cannot be happening!*she thought as she turned her head and looked out of the window. Suddenly...
*What?! That feeling...there it is again...I--”
“Hello,” said a voice.
Misty looked up to see a tall, teenage boy, with brown hair and mystical green eyes looking down at her.
*It's that guy again! What, is he following me or something?!*
“Uh...hi,” Misty replied shyly.
“Can I join you?” he asked in a not-so-enthusiastic tone.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure,” she said while smiling.
The boy sat down and stared at the floor for a moment, then looked over at Misty and said, “I'm Eric.”
*Oh, those gorgeous, green eyes come with a name, Eric.....WHOA! Back to reality Misty!*
“I'm Misty,” she said, once again, shyly.
“That man you were just talking to, what did he say?” Eric asked.
*Uh, gee, that's kinda rude...but hey, can't hurt to tell him; it's not like it was a huge secret or something.*
“Oh, he told me the doors were locked,” she responded.
“Yeah, but he said something else after he looked at your necklace. What did he say then?” he responded.
*Geeze, this guy is nosey...but he's so incredibly adorable...Oh well, couldn't hurt to tell him.*
“He just said, `Yes! I found it! I knew it!'...that's all...why?” Misty responded.
Eric looked at the floor for a moment, thinking about what he had just heard, then he looked back over at Misty.
“Can I see it, please?” he asked, somewhat politely.
“Yeah, ok,” she said as she threw one of her long pigtails over her shoulder and unclipped her necklace.
Misty gave it to Eric who looked at it for a moment, then responded, “So...YOU have it, huh?”
“What? What do I have?” asked Misty.
“You have the Star Key...” he said.
“The what?! What's the `Star Key'?” asked a, once again, confused Misty.
“You have it, and don't even know what it is?! Where did you get it?”
“My mom gave it to me when I was 10, if it's any of you business.” she said, turning back to the window.
“Look, I'm sorry you're confused, but I really don't have time to wait for the Card Mistress, which I assume is your mother.” said Eric hastily, while his eyes seemed to penetrate Misty's soul. Chills were sent all through Misty's body. (hey, I think that'd give anyone chills.)
“The Card Mistress?” she asked weakly, still looking into his intense eyes.
“Yes! The Card Mistress...oh geeze, you're no help if you don't know what I'm talking about; here's your necklace; I'm outta' here,” he said, breaking their gaze.
Eric got up and started to leave when,
“Wait...,” Misty yelled.
“What?” he asked harshly.
“ I was wondering...can I please come with you...I won't bother you, but I NEED to find a way out of here...” she begged as she walked in his direction.
*Well, I could always get her to use her magic, unknowingly of course...*
He looked at her, then at his watch. “Fine, just don't talk to me,” he said bitterly as he turned again to leave.
“Oh, thank you!” Misty squealed as she ran to catch up with him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in the Showron family car...
“Oh geeze! The traffic HAS to come now! Never anywhere when you don't have to be someplace fast, but the minuet you have something important to do, everyone decides to leave the house!” complained Sakura, as she focused her emerald eyes on the stop light.
“Sakura, you've got to calm down. Misty's a big girl; she can take care of herself pretty well for a 14-year-old!” responded Li calmly.
“Li, that's just it! She's 14! Not 16 or 17, she's 14! She's still my little baby..”
“Sakura, you've got to realize that Misty is NOT a baby anymore; she's done so many things independently and wisely; and she can make friends with just about everyone...she's got a good head on her shoulders, we've raised her well.” responded the “All Mighty” Li. (hee-hee...just kidding).
“Yeah, maybe you're right Li.....,“ responded Sakura. “You know what just occurred to me? The cards! Do you think they could've been released again somehow? And maybe...Li...Misty must have Clow magic too...she must have inherited it from us!...Oh no! Now...now we've got to tell...tell her about...the cards...everything...”
“Well,” said Li, “it would make sense; that would explain the disappearances, Eli showing up....Hey, do you remember Misty's 10th birthday...you know when you gave her the Star Key?”
“Yes, of course I do,” she responded.
“Well, do you remember a couple months after that when she started `sensing' things?...It all makes sense, Sakura! We recieved the gift of Clow magic at the age of 10, and Misty, like us, received her magic then as well, only...she doesn't know she has it...yet...” Li looked out the window, “Sakura, step on it...we've got to get there soon...before it's too late...”

Chapter 4 (top)

Sakura looked at Li and nodded her head. Then it hit her,
“What do you mean `before it's too late, Li...is something bad
going to happen to her if we don't tell her?” she asked, both confused and nervous. Li looked at Sakura, then back out the
window...thinking...
“Sakura,” he started, “if she isn't told of her magic, she can't develop it properly...and if she doesn't develop her magic
properly...her magic will be used against her...which means she...could be...,” he trailed off.
“She could be what, Li?” asked Sakura, looking at him worriedly. Li looked back over at her,
“She could be killed, Sakura,” Li finished. Sakura's emerald eyes widened as she thought about what her husband had just
said. *She could be killed?! But how...by whom?* Sakura's mind was now racing with questions;
_honk_
“Huh?” said Sakura as she slowly returned to the present.
_honk, honk_
“Uh Sakura, the light's green,” said Li, a little worried.
“Oh...,” and with that Sakura stepped on the gas pedal and continued down the busy street.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the mall...
*Hmm...how did I come in here, again?* thought Eric, as Misty trailed slowly behind him, thinking as well.
*I...I don't understand any of this stuff...if my necklace is a real key...what does it unlock?* she thought, twirling her soft,
brown hair.
Suddenly, Misty bumped into something. She looked up and saw that Eric had stopped and she just knocked him into a wall.
“Oh! I'm sorry!” she apologized.
“Whatever,” he said coldly, “just watch where you're going.”
“O...k,”
*Geeze, this guy's a major jerk! I can't believe I actually thought I liked him! I'm such a loser.* she thought as she continued
to walk.
_thump_
Both Misty and Eric stopped in their tracks and looked in the direction of the sound.
“What was that?” they asked aloud simultaneously. Both looked at each other and blushed. Eric, noticing he had let his guard
down, shook it off and walked in the direction of the noise. “Come on,” he said forcefully.
“Ok...,” said Misty, who was a little fed up with his attitude, but at the same time, was scared to tell him so.
So, she continued to walk behind Eric, until they heard a scream.
“AH!” went the scream. (he he...I thought that was kinda cute...but then again I wrote it, so let's continue)
Misty ran ahead of Eric, who had decided to approach the situation cautiously, that is, until Misty ran ahead.
“Where are you going! Come back here!” he screamed, running to catch up with Misty. When Misty reached the destination
of the sound, she stopped and looked around (hey, that rhymes!)...but saw nothing.
*That's strange...and now I have that weird feeling again...* she thought.
“Don't do that!” lectured Eric, finally catching up to her.
"Don't do what?" asked Misty, crossing her arms.
“Don't run ahead of me like that! We don't know what's causing this so we need to take this slow and be careful. Besides,”
he said, “what if something attacked you, what would you have done then, huh?!” he finished, looking at the floor.
“Are you...” Misty started, smiling, “are you saying you're worried...about...me?!” she asked, somewhat shocked.
“Uh...yeah, I guess you could put it that way...but I'm not just worried about you, ok...my sister's missing too...and if I don't
find her, my mom's gonna kill me...let's go.” he responded.
*Huh...I guess sometimes guys can surprise you.* thought Misty smiling.
“Are you coming or what?” asked Eric, in an exasperated tone.
“Yeah, I'm coming,” said Misty as she walked up to meet Eric.
They continued walking around the mall for another 10 minuets, until they reached the entrance again, where they spotted 2
people with their faces pressed against the glass doors, obviously trying to see inside.
*Oh, my, gosh...are they who I think they are?* Misty thought, as she mentally kicked herself for calling her parents.
Eric walked over to the doors which were, with out a doubt, tightly shut and locked.
“Uh...” Eric began, “why are they doing that to the window?”
“I think they're trying to see inside,” she said, pretending she didn't know who they were.
Just then, one of the two people began waving their arms wildly and looking in Misty's direction.
Eric looked at Misty, then back at the person waving their arms.
“Do you know them?” he asked.
“Uh...,” she began, “I don't think I do.” But then one called out, “Misty!”
*Oh no! Why me!* she thought to herself.
“Uh, well they seem to know you...are you sure you don't know them?” he asked again.
“Um...,” she said, stepping forward for a “closer look”, “Oh...that's my mom and dad...he he...”
“They're your mom and dad?” he asked, pointing to the door.
“Yep...that's them...” she said, once again mentally kicking herself. Suddenly, Eric's green eyes grew wide and he shouted,
“We've gotta find a way to get them inside!”
“Huh?! Why?!” she asked surprised.
“We just, have to, that's all; Come on, help me look for something to break the window with.”
*Break the window?! He MUST be insane! Geeze, he never stops, does he...* Misty sighed
(-_-') *Whatever.* she thought
as she walked into the food court and picked up one of the heavy, metal chairs. She staggered back over in Eric's direction
with it. He spotted her and ran over to help her. (aw...how sweet)
“Thanks,” she replied smiling and looking straight into his intense, green eyes.
“Oh,” he said blushing again, “w-whatever.” Then he took the chair away and once again broke their gaze.
But that wasn't all he broke. Eric ran over in the direction of the door. Sakura and Li spotted him with the chair high
in the air (ha ha, I'm good at this rhyming thing) and moved out of the way. Eric used all of his strength and completely
shattered the window. Misty ran over to them as Li and Sakura broke the remaining glass and climbed inside.
“Are you OK?” Sakura asked as she practically strangled Misty with her hug.
“Mom, I'm fine,” she said trying to free herself from Sakura's grip. Eric just stood there and watched the family reunion,
smiling.
“Misty,” Sakura began, “your father and I have something important to tell you.”

Chapter 5 (top)

Misty looked at her mother, then at her father.
“What are you talking about? What did I do now?” she asked, fairly confused.
Sakura laughed at her daughter,
“Oh, Misty YOU didn't do anything...WE are the ones who did the...doing ...here, I think you should sit down,” Sakura said, guiding her over to a near-by bench. They all sat down, still ignoring Eric, who was still watching, interested in what they were going to tell Misty.
“Ok...A long time ago,” began Sakura, “a very powerful man named Clow Reed created cards; He named these cards `Clow Cards'...”
“He placed them in a book that he later named `The book of Clow' to keep the cards safe, and everyone else safe as well,” continued Li, “A while later, your grandfather, Aiden Avalon, discovered the book on an archeological dig and brought it back to Japan with him. He had tried to open the lock, but for some reason it wouldn't open.”
“After careful research on the book they decided that the lock was rusted shut, so they instructed him to keep it safe; He placed it in his basement library and it stayed there for a couple more years, until...” Sakura stopped...she didn't know if she should tell Misty that it was her fault these cards were released, so she asked Li to continue for her.
“As your mother was saying, until one day, two 10 year old girls ventured down to the basement to clean it up a bit, when one of the girls discovered the book..” Li stopped and looked at Sakura, then back at his daughter.
“Do you understand any of this Misty?” he asked her.
“Yes, I think so...please keep going...” she responded.
“Very well,” Li said looking back at Sakura. Sakura decided she'd continue.
“The girl took the book off of the shelf and examined it until she noticed the lock, she hardly touched it, and the lock opened, and the girl, out of pure curiosity, opened the book to reveal the cards...the one on the top was called `The Windy'...when she said it's name, the card's power began to blow everything around, and made all of the cards fly out of the book and into the world. But it wasn't over, after that, she placed the book down and looked at the card...she didn't know what she had done, until something rose out of the book...a little, teddy bear-looking being with little, white wings, appeared and said his name was Ceroberos (a.k.a Kero, for those of you who aren't very well educated...j/k), guardian beast of the seal...the little animal explained everything to the girl...and eventually he was on the road to teaching her to be a Card Captor...” Sakura sighed (-_-')... and Misty looked at her a little strangely, but said nothing.
“Misty...do you know who that girl was?”
Misty looked at her mother puzzled, but she answered.
“Mom, how would I know, you haven't finished the story yet.”
Sakura and Li do the anime fall.
“Misty,” began Li, “that girl was your mother. Now, you have to understand something about all of this, to open the Clow book, you have to have the gift of Clow magic, and apparently she did...Otherwise the book wouldn't have opened...do you, understand?”
Misty, sat there for a moment, taking everything in...then it hit her...
“Does that mean, I have this magic stuff too?” she asked, hopefully.
Sakura and Li looked at each other...
“Yes,” they responded at the same time.
“Really? Wow...well, there's one thing I...I don't understand...why didn't you tell me this sooner? Did you not trust me or something?”
“Oh Misty, of course we trust you it's just that we didn't really think you needed to know, not until this happened and we really started to think about it...Misty, if you don't develop your powers, they may turn against you and...kill you...” Sakura said with some uneasiness in her voice.
Misty looked at both of her parents, then back at Eric who was still listening and by this time, shocked...
Misty smiled, “Don't worry Mom...I know I can do it...I think I'll just need a little...uh...help...”
Just then, Eli showed up again, out of no where, “Well, I see my cute descendant and my little cherry blossom are here...how have you two been?”
Sakura and Li looked at Eli...mouths wide open...
“Uh...Eli...where did you come from?” asked Sakura.
“Oh...here and there...but I do have a solution to your problem...well, one of them anyway,” he responded looking at Misty.
“Oh, and which problem is that? You?” asked Li, sarcastically.
“Ha ha...of course not Li! The problem Misty is having! She needs help, and I know just the person who can help her...but of course...” he said turning towards Eric, “you'll have to call you mother.”
Eric looked behind him and all around...
“Me?!”
“Yes you...who did you think I meant!” said Eli.
“What does my mother have to do with this?” he asked, protectively.
“Well, your mother DID marry a descendant of Clow Reed you know...how do you think you got the magic hmm? Did you think you just woke up one day and it was just there?! Of course not! You can only INHERIT magic. Now, call you mother!”
“Uh, if you don't mind me asking,” began Sakura, “just WHO is his mother, Eli?”
Eli smiled and looked back over at Sakura.
“Why, Sakura...I'm surprised you don't already know...But, you two knew her very well...she was with you through everything, especially with Li...” he said, with his evil little smile on his face. Li's amber eyes widened...
“You don't mean...no, not...Meilin....it's not her...right?” asked a baffled Li.
Eli looked in Eric's direction as if he was telling him to answer the question.
“You want me to answer that?” he said, looking back and forth from Eli to Li.
“Yes, that's why I'm looking at you,” said Eli, sarcastically.
“Oh...well then, yeah, Meilin is my mother's name...what's it to you!” he said, trying to maintain his clever image.
Misty heard this and burst out laughing.
“What are you laughing at?!” Eric exclaimed, as he raced over to Misty to “deal” with her.
Misty continues to laugh at him, while everyone else looked on, trying not to laugh themselves.
“I said what are you laughing at?!” Eric cried again, but it was no use, the more he talked, the harder she laughed, in fact she was actually starting to cry she was laughing so hard. Well, Eli decided that they'd better get on with the phoning of Meilin thing, so he broke up the fight and placed the two teens next to each other, on a bench in a near-by corner. Misty was still trying as hard as possible not to laugh, and Eric could tell, so he flipped his russet hair and turned away from her. Eli walked over to Misty,
“Misty Showron, may I use your phone for a moment please?”
“He he...of course....here...he he...you go....ha ha...” Misty said, still trying to contain her laughter.
Sakura noticed this and decided to calm her daughter down, so she waltzed over to Misty and had a little chat with her. Meanwhile, Eli was trying to figure out how to use Misty's cell phone so he could call Meilin.
“Uh...why don't I call my mother,” Eric said frankly.
“Huh? Oh that might be the best idea..” Eli responded, while handing the phone over to Eric. Eric dialed his home number:
<*ring!*>
<*ring!*>
<*rin--*> “Hello? This is the Rae residence.” said a woman's voice.
“Hey Mom....it's--”
“Eric! Sweetie, is everything alright!” Meilin interrupted.
“Well, not exactly...uh, would you mind coming over to the mall...I have some people here who need to talk to you...we're at the main--” Eric was cut off.
“What people! Is it some of Mika's friends?” Meilin interrupted, again.
“Mom, please stop interrupting me.” pleaded Eric.
“Oh, I'm sorry baby, go on,” replied Meilin.
“Ok, as I was saying, we're at the main entrance, hurry up so I can go home...please!!” Eric finished.
“Ok sweetheart! I'll be there in a jiff!! Bye-Bye sweetie!!”
_click_
Eric sweat-dropped.
“Mothers.”
“So, what did she say, Eric...That IS your name, correct?” responded Eli.
“Yeah, that's my name...She said she'd be here in a minuet,” he retorted, as he handed Eli the phone.
“Very well...Now what shall we do while we wait for--” Eli was suddenly interrupted. (boy, that seems to be happening a lot in this chapter)
“Where's my baby?!” cried Meilin as she jumped through the already broken window. Spotting Eric, she ran over and embraced him, practically suffocating him.
“Mom!....Please....let......go!!” he said between gasps for air.
Meilin then let go of her son, realizing she was hurting him.
“Are you alright sweetums??” she shrieked, while giving him a huge kiss on the check and again embarrassing Eric.
“Mom! Don't do that!” Eric complained, wiping away his mother's spit.
“Oh...sorry Eric; Now who wanted to see me?” she said looking around at the people around her, but she stopped when she spotted Li.
“LI!” she cried as she ran toward him.
“AH!” Li screamed, “Here we go again.” Sakura laughed as Meilin ran over and practically suffocated him as well with her hug.
“Oh Li!! How are you! Where's my little God-daughter??” she asked happily searching for Li and Sakura's child. (a.k.a Misty) Li and Sakura pointed in Misty's direction.
“OH!” Meilin cried running over and suffocating her too, “She looks just like you Li!! Except she has Sakura's eyes, of course. And she's a girl, but besides that you can tell she's Li's child!”
“Umm...excuse...me...” said Misty between gasps for air, “Please...let...me...go!!!”
“Oh! I'm terribly sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Meilin Rae...your God-mother!” Meilin stated happily, as she returned to her son's side.
“So, now that we've all reunited, what am I doing here, Eric?”
Eric pointed over at Eli. Eli smiled his devilish little smile and approached Meilin.
“Hello Meilin...How have you been?” he asked, still holding his smile.
“Eli? Is that you?....Oh! It is! I've been fine! What have you been up to these past years!” she cried, slapping Eli on the back.
“Oh...he he he, nothing really Meilin, but I DO have a question to ask of you...May I?” he said.
“Well of course! Ask away!” she responded, with a happy smile on her face.
“I was wondering...Well actually, we all were wondering, if you would mind teaching Misty some things...about Clow magic...Would that be alright?” he asked ever so plainly.
“Well, what about Li and Sakura...don't they have the magic? I was just married to a descendant but, I guess if you really want me to, yes!! I'd just LOVE to help out my cute little God-daughter!!” she said as she waltzed back over to Misty and placed her arm around her shoulders, “We'll have a wonderful time!”
“He he....I'll bet....” Misty sighed, while twirling her brown hair and giving Eric an evil eye, “Oh yeah...lots of fun.”

Chapter 6 (top)

Meilin looked around at everyone and sighed happily with her arm still around Misty's shoulders.
“Oh! I'm so happy I've found all of my friends again! I've missed you all, so very much! But enough of that, let's find a way out of here...Anybody got any ideas?”
The room was silent.
“No one has ANY ideas?” asked Meilin, a little confounded.
“I know of a way out,” said someone. Everyone looked around at each other, but saw no one that the voice could have come from.
“I'm over here!!” said the voice again. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a short, slender girl with long, black hair tied up into a high pony tail. Her eyes were pale purple and her skin was just the right tone for her features.
“You know how to get out of here?” Sakura asked her.
“Yeah, sure...It's the way I came in; Follow me.” she said as she flipped her midnight black hair and strolled away. Everyone followed her to another one of the mall's many entrances, where she pointed to a small crack in the wall.
“That was how I got in,” she said smiling and still pointing at the wall. Everyone looked at each other and back at her.
“Umm, how are we supposed to get through the wall, little girl?” asked Meilin, a little unkindly. The girl shot her a glance with her intense violet eyes and said,
“I am NOT a little girl; For your information, I'm 15 years old; And I have a name you know, and it's not `little girl',” she said sarcastically.
“Well then, what IS your name?” asked Eli.
The girl smiled slyly and said, “My name is Mina.”
“Well then Mina, how are we supposed to get through that wall there?” asked Meilin in her usual sarcastic tone. Mina eyed her again and pulled a rectangular shape from her pocket. She held it up in front of her sparkling eyes and whispered, “Through card, I command you to come forth.”
With those words, the card began to glow and a beam of light shot out of the top and grew until it showed the form of a tall, slender looking woman with a long robe and a jewel in the middle of her forehead. The being stood in front of Mina until she commanded it to take everyone through the crack in the wall and on to the outside of the mall. The being turned into the light beam again and swept around all of them, all of a sudden, they were standing at the entrance of the mall. She called the being back into it's card form and placed it back in her pocket. Sakura and Li looked at each other.
“Li,” Sakura whispered, “where did she get the Through Card?! I thought that the Star Cards were tucked safely away in our basement! How are we going to that back from her?!”
“Sakura, I don't know...I'm not even sure how she obtained the card in the first place...maybe...we should ask her,” responded Li. Sakura nodded at Li's suggestion and walked over to Mina. But before she could say anything to her about anything that happened, Mina spoke up.
“Here,” she said handing Sakura the `missing' Star Card, “I found this and received a vision from it; It told me to find The Card Mistress and return it to her...and I can sense that it's you, so take it,” Mina said smiling. Sakura didn't know what to say.
“Thank you...But where did you find it?”
“Oh I found it lying on the street corner, I'm not sure why such a powerful object was just lying on the side of the road, but that's where I found it,” she said smiling once more. Sakura returned Mina's smile with one of her own famous smiles.
“Thank you again, Mina...” Sakura replied.
“Anytime! I'm glad to help,” and with that Mina ran off into the parking lot of the mall and vanished. Misty walked over to her mother who was still looking at the `Through Card'.
“Mom? Are you alright?” she asked with concern in her voice.
“What?” Sakura responded looking over at her daughter, “Oh Misty, I'm fine, don't worry about me.”
After a long, awkward silence, Misty said:
“Mom, this still isn't over.” Sakura looked at Misty strangely.
“What do you mean by that, Misty?”
“Well, for one we still have to find out where the people in the mall disappeared to and why they disappeared in the first place...Then we have to bring them back and stop whatever is doing this.”
Sakura smiled at her daughter; Li had been right, Misty did have a `good head on her shoulders' and she knew that Misty could help stop whatever this force was.
“I know Misty, I know...”
Just then, a huge force began to pull Sakura back towards the mall entrance. (weird, huh?) Misty held tightly to her mother's hand. Li saw what was happening and rushed over to help her. Then everyone else, Meilin, Eric and Eli, rushed over as well and joined in on the pulling...But they couldn't stop it. Whatever was pulling Sakura, wasn't going to let go and pretty soon, the force became too much for everyone to handle. Misty and Eric were hurled back onto the street and everyone else was sucked up by the incredible force and vanished.
“Oh my gosh....,” said Misty as she focused her tear-filled emerald eyes on the mall entryway. Eric was just as surprised, only he couldn't say anything. He looked over at Misty, who looked as if she was about to burst into tears, and crawled over to her. (they were still on the ground, ok!)
“Are you ok?” he asked her as nicely as possible. Misty looked over at Eric with tears in her eyes still and smiled weakly.
“Oh, I'm fine...Are you ok?” she asked him nervously.
Eric looked at her, somewhat stunned.
“Oh, yes I'm OK...”
They just kinda sat there for a little while longer, until Eric suggested that they go rest somewhere other than the parking lot. Misty agreed and rose to follow him to a near-by bench (I just noticed that there's always a `near-by' anything when they need it...I guess that's why this is a story...ok, moving on). They sat there for quite some time in silence, not really knowing what to say to each other. They were both extremely tired and hungry, but they didn't really wanna say anything to each other about it...But then, Eric's stomach kinda spoke for itself.
“Oh...I , uh, guess I'm hungry.... (well DUH!)...You wanna go get something to eat?” he asked, hopefully.
“Uh, yeah, sure that sounds great...He he... Um, but could we kinda, I dunno, clean ourselves up first? Please?” she said with a cheesy smile planted on her face. Eric looked down at himself and back up at her,
“I think that might be a pretty good idea, huh.”
“Yeah...”
So they decided to clean up a little before going to eat something. Eric walked Misty to her house and was just about to leave her to go clean up himself.
“Oh no!” Misty cried, stomping her foot on the pavement and searching her pockets.
“What's wrong?” asked Eric, looking back over at her.
“I have a key to my house....But my key is in my purse, which is kinda still at the mall...Oops...,” she explained, while shuffling her feet.
*Hmm, I wonder if she really DID loose it or if she's just saying that....Whoa! What am I thinking! She couldn't think of me that way...I mean, we just, well, met...na...I just, won't worry about it.*
“Well, I guess you could always clean up at my house...You could borrow some of Mika's clothes, I mean ya know if you were considering taking a shower or anything like that...,” Eric replied nervously.
*Why am I so nervous! She's just a girl! My sister's a girl and I never get this nervous around her...What's wrong with me!!*
Misty hesitated, but then smiled that wonderfully generous smile of hers. (she got that from Sakura...hehe).
“Well, I guess that'd be OK...Do you wanna go, uh, now?” she asked, trying as hard as possible not to be shy. Eric blushed a little, then replied,
“Uh, yeah...Come on, let's go...,” And with that the two teens walked off down the silver sidewalk. (he he, I like that, it sounds cool)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in the “vanishing pit” ....(hey, I don't know what to call it!!)


“Li! Li!! Where are you! Li!! It's Sakura!” cried, well, Sakura while floating around in some kind of “other realm”. She was trying to move around by “swimming”, but she wasn't getting anywhere.
“Li!! Where are you!! Meilin! Eli! Anybody! Where is everyone?!” she hollered again.
But there was no answer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In another part of the “pit”....


“Sakura!! Sakura!! Are you here?! Sakura!! It's Li!!” said, duh, Li.
*Where did everyone go? And Misty! She's alone with...Eric...oh man, I've gotta find Sakura and then a way out!*
After that, Li began chanting something and the screwed up gravity returned to normal, but he was kinda still floating when he chanted, so he fell flat on his face.
“Ouch...,” he said rubbing his face and rising up into a standing position, “that just kinda hurt!”
“Now to find Sakura...But where do I even start looking?!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around that same time...


Eric had just emerged from his shower (which is in his room so don't get any nasty ideas OK!) and was drying his hair with a towel. Misty was just kinda sitting in Meilin's room; she really wanted to take a shower, but at the same time she didn't (hmm, I wonder why).
*This is crazy, I'm just gonna take a shower...I look like a train wreck.*
And with that, she rose from Meilin's bed, entered the bathroom, shut the door and locked it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About 2 hours later...


Misty came out of Mika's room in some of her clothes (a tight, baby blue shirt with silver stars all over it, she likes stars OK, and black, baggy, nylon pants). Eric was sitting on the couch thinking, as usual, about whatever. There was a TV in the room, but never really watched it, because he usually sat on the couch staring out the window. In a way, I suppose that was like his TV. He didn't see Misty enter the room, so he continued staring. Misty sat down on the couch opposite of him and looked out the window as well. Finally, she decided to break the silence.
“What's so interesting?”
Eric was startled by the sudden change in volume, and jumped up a little, making him fall off the couch. Misty smiled and laughed slightly.
“Oh, sorry..,” she said continuing to smile.
Eric turned scarlet and jumped back up into a standing position.
“Oh, I didn't see you come in,” he said, still blushing like mad.
“Apparently not...Well, what were you doing anyway?”
“Me? Nothing...just thinking that's all,” Eric replied as he sat back down on the couch.
“You sure think a lot...” *What does he think about anyway? There's not really too much to think about....or is there?*
“Oh...yeah I do...,” he replied, not really knowing what else to say.
Misty smiled and said, “Well, maybe she should get that bite to eat, huh.”
“Oh, yeah...let's go...,” Eric said standing up and walking to the door.
Misty followed him and they were off to dinner. (that's so cute...^^)
Not too much was said at dinner, they just ate, paid and left. They decided they should go back to the mall to see what they could find out about the force that had sucked up everyone. They were walking down the sidewalk again and stopped a little short of the entrance. They glanced over at one another and took deep breaths.
“You ready?” asked Eric, slightly nervous.
“Ready as I'll ever be,” said Misty, smiling weakly.
They sighed again and walked up to the entrance, not knowing what to expect.

Chapter 7 (top)

Welcome back my lovely friends!!! I don't have anything to say, so lets continue with chapter 7, shall we?

Misty and Eric were about to enter the mall when they heard the sound of feet running on the pavement behind them. They both turned around to see a medium-sized girl, with short black hair and ruby-colored eyes.
“Hey Misty!” shouted the girl as she continued to run in their direction. Misty waved slightly as Eric leaned toward her.
“Uh, who's that?” he asked, in a whisper.
“Oh, that's a girl I know from school.” Misty replied. *I wonder what Sabrina's doing here.*
Sabrina finally made it up to where the two teens were standing.
“Hey Misty,” Sabrina repeated, a little out of breath.
“Hey Sabrina,” Misty replied, smiling her sweet smile.
“So uh, who's your friend?” she asked, looking at Eric and then winking at Misty. Misty sighed (^-^') and proceeded to introduce Sabrina and Eric to each other.
“Sabrina, this is Eric; Eric, this is Sabrina.” she said, pointing back and forth at her two friends.
“Nice to meet you, Eric,” said Sabrina, slyly smiling at him. Eric noticed and became slightly nervous.
“He he...Nice to meet you, too.”
Misty looked at Eric and then back at Sabrina, when she unexpectedly became angry.
“Uh, Eric, we have to go...do that thing...remember? Come on let's go,” she said, grabbing his arm. Eric got goose bumps, and started sweating.
“Uh, right, that thing....ha ha....”
Sabrina smiled at them.
“Ok, well I guess I'll see you later Misty....Bye Eric,” replied Sabrina, as she flirtatiously waved to Eric and began walking backwards.
Continuing to look in Sabrina's direction, Misty flared up even more and began pulling Eric in the direction of the mall. Suddenly, she noticed she was getting irrational, and quickly released her grip on Eric`s arm, which made him fall.
“Oops! Sorry...,” she laughed, helping him to his feet.
“Oh, it's OK,” he said, slowly lifting his head, level to hers. (he he...I think this is gettin' pretty good, don't you?) Once again they began the “gazing into each other's eyes” thing. They stayed locked in their gazes long enough to get close enough for, you guessed it, a kiss ^^. They continued just gawking, until Misty finally snapped out of the “trance”. She helped Eric up the rest of the way, and proceeded in the direction of the mall, saying nothing. Eric followed her inside, though he was kind of disappointed that nothing had happened.(^^ !cute! ^^).
Once inside, they didn't really know what to expect, so they just stood there and waited for someone to say something.
Finally, a loud _clank_, of what sounded like a sword, broke the awkward silence. Misty and Eric quickly looked in the direction of the sudden _clank_ and noticed that two men were fighting, and had their faces covered. Eric scratched his head.
“Boy, this just gets weirder and weirder...”
“Tell me about it....Why are they sword fighting in a mall?” said Misty, who was confused as well. Eric looked over at Misty.
“If I knew, I'd tell you.” And with that said, the two youths continued staring as the fighting continued.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About 10 minutes later...


Finally, the two swordsmen stopped and bowed to each other. Then they turned towards Misty and Eric and stared.
They looked at each other, then back at the men.
“Why are they staring at us, Eric?” asked Misty, pretending he knew. Eric raised an eyebrow and looked over at her.
“How should I know? I'm still trying to figure out why they were even fighting in the first place.”
Just then, the swordsman on the right removed his mask. Misty stared wide-eyed at him.
*DAD?!*
Eric looked at the man with intense brown eyes and deep, brown hair, then back at Misty and continued this a couple more times. Then he finally asked,
“What?”
“That looks, like my dad....But my dad is with my mom and your mom and their friend somewhere else...Not here....sword fighting,” she said, trying to make sense of the thoughts racing around in her head.
But before either of them could speak again, the fighter on the left removed his mask, too.
This time, Eric's mouth hung wide open. Misty did the same ritual as Eric had done and asked him what he was looking at.
“He...he looks like...MY dad....but that's impossible...he's...he's....dead...”
Misty's mouth also dropped at the sound of his answer. She looked in the direction of the two fighters and looked at the one that Eric said was his father. She saw the dark, chocolate brown hair and the same mysterious green eyes. Before either of the teens could say a word, the men vanished into thin air.
“OK, just so we make sure I'm not crazy, You saw that too, right?” Eric asked Misty in a confused, yet serious, tone.
Misty was still staring at the place where the men had been standing.
“No you`re not crazy, I saw it....Oh I definitely saw it...”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in that “vanishing pit”...


Li continued to walk around in search of Sakura. Suddenly, he heard faint hollering. He walked in the direction of the voice until he could understand what it was saying.
“Li!” he heard, faintly.
*That sounds like Sakura....*
And with that, he ran, still following Sakura's voice.
Finally, after running for what seemed like forever, he found Sakura, still floating in the air and shouting his name. Li did the chanting thing and Sakura began falling. But he caught her before she hit anything, mainly the ground.
“Li?! How...Where...How did you do that?” Sakura asked, surprised to see him.
Li laughed. “I used magic Sakura, what else,” he said, as he placed her softly on her feet. Sakura hugged him as tightly as she could.
Li smiled and returned the hug.^^ He was fine until Sakura began to cut off his circulation.
“Sakura! Sakura! Please let go of me!” cried Li.
“Oh...sorry Li,” she said, smiling at him.
“...Ok, let's find a way out of here, Sakura.” said Li, shaking off the effects of her smile ^^.
“Wait Li....We've gotta find Meilin and Eli....Then we can leave...,” said Sakura.
“But what about Misty? She's alone with that, that...kid!”
Sakura smiled again, “Li, number one, his name is Eric, and number 2, Misty will be fine with him...Come on.” she said, before walking away.
“She BETTER be fine...,” he mumbled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to Eric and Misty...


After they had shaken off the whole sword-fighting thing, they walked around looking for some kind of a clue to where their “companions” had disappeared to. Just then, Eric spotted a rectangular shape lying on the floor by the door. (^^ more rhyming!). He walked over to it and picked it up, while Misty was inspecting something else.
After examining whatever she had been looking at, Misty realized Eric wasn't next to her anymore. She turned around, and spotted him by the doors. (everything happens by them doors, huh?). She strolled over and glanced over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. One of her thin, light brown eyebrows suddenly shot straight up.
“Uh, Eric...,”
“Yeah,” he said, looking over at her.
“What's that?” Misty asked, pointing to the rectangular item.
“Oh, this is another Star Card,” he replied, holding it where she could see it.
“`Star Card'?”
Eric sighed (^-^')
“Boy, first you don't know what the `Star Key' is, and now you don't know what the `Star Cards' are! You are totally and completely clueless.” he said, laughing slightly.
“Well, it's not my fault! I'm new to all this OK; I didn't grow up around it like you! So, you could be just a little bit nicer about all of this...,” she said, turning around and crossing her arms over her chest.
Eric sighed again (^-^')
“I don't do nice...But for you, I guess I could make an exception.”
Misty's emerald eyes went wide as she turned around and faced him, arms still crossed.
“What did you say?” she asked sternly, but with some surprise.
Eric blushed, “I said I'd help you...that's all,” he said turning away from her.
“Oh...Ok...So what you gonna help me with first?” she responded, smiling cutely^^.
Eric scratched his head, still not looking at her.
“Well, I guess I can start by telling you a little about the `Star Cards'.”
“Ok,” said Misty, still smiling at him.
“Um...Ok...This is a `Star Card',” he said pointing at the rectangular item, “the name of the card it down here; This one's name is `The Illusion'.” Then he held it up where she could see it.
“`The Illusion'? This Clow guy wasn't too good at Language Arts, huh?” Misty joked.
“Ha ha, ok, moving on....To release a card's power, you have to have magic and you need to have the `Star Rod',” Eric continued.
“What do you mean `to release a card's power'? What power does this one have?” Misty asked, suddenly very interested.
“Well, every card has some kind of a power; this one has the gift of illusions, hence the name `The Illusion'.” he answered. (he's so smart ^^)
“Oh...Well, what else do you have in that head of yours to tell me?” she asked him sweetly, while pointing at his head.
“Oh, well let's see....Oh, there are 52 `Star Cards', including this one. The thing that Mina used to get us out of here earlier, was a `Star Card' as well, and now that we have his one; there's only 50 others you haven't seen yet,” he said sarcastically, smiling.
Misty jeered at him.
“Very funny...Well, how do we use this one?” she asked pointing to the card in Eric's hands, “I mean we both have magic, right?”
“Well, yeah, but first of all, you don't know how to control yours yet and secondly, we don't have the `Star Rod'...Unless...”
“Unless what?”
“Unless the `Star Key' turns into the `Star Rod'...But we don't know the incantation to transform it...Besides, `The Illusion' wouldn't help us much. None of the stuff it projects it real, so it's kinda worthless as of now...Come on, let's keep looking around.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in our lovely pit...


“You know who I just thought of Li?” said Sakura, emerald eyes sparkling.
“Who?” he asked, somewhat uninterested.
“Madison...I haven't seen her since our wedding 15 years ago...I wonder how she's doing...” After saying that, Sakura began remembering all the fun things they had done together, while Li still trying to think of a way to find Meilin and Eli.
After 20 minuets of silence, Sakura perked up.
“Li...”
“Yes, Sakura?”
“I just had a case of what I believe is deja vu...except...we were younger...I think it was when we were...*gasp*”
“When we were what, Sakura?”
“When we were...trapped by the Maze Card...Li, you don't think that this is...the Maze Card, do you?” said Sakura, somewhat confused.
“Come to think of it,” he said, “this DOES kind of feel somewhat familiar...But who knows Sakura, I mean, how would you explain getting here in the first place?”
“Well, I dunno...But, when I was being pulled up, it didn't feel like anything was actually pulling me, just that it was kinda, oh I don't know, “carrying” me.”
Li looked at her, puzzled by her explanation.
“Well, whatever is doing this, whether it be the Maze Card or not, has got to be stopped,” said Li.
“You're right Li, Come on, let's find the others and get out of here.” and with those words, Sakura and Li continued the search for Meilin and Eli.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the mall scene...
Eric and Misty had given up on looking for clues and were now sitting, half asleep, on the floor, up against a wall.
“Misty?” Eric whispered, shaking her.
“Huh? What?” Misty said as she rubbed the sleep out of her emerald eyes.
“Do you wanna look around and see if we can find anything else, or do you want to find a place to sleep for the night? I mean, it's already....12:30 AM.” he said, looking at his watch and yawning.
“Oh, really? That late, huh...Well, maybe we should go to that department store other there,” she said pointing at a near-by (there's that word again) store and rising up from the floor (he he, more rhyming) , “ ...They always have beds and stuff in there.”
“Uh...More than one right?” he asked. (what a dumb question ^-^')
“Well, duh! They're selling all different kinds of sheets and stuff, they're gonna have more than one bed, you idiot. Come on, let's go,” she replied grumpily, helping Eric to his feet.
“Thanks.” he said.
“No problem,” said Misty, as she flashed her charming smile at him.
Eric blushed (gee, ya think he's just a tad bit shy?) as they walked in the direction of the department store.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the department store...


“So,” said Misty, “which one do you want?”
Eric walked up and down the aisle looking at all the different bed displays.
“Don't you think they're kinda small?” he complained.
Misty sweat-dropped. (-_-')
“Eric, they're displays...They're selling the sheets and comforters, not the mattresses; That's why they're so small,” she replied, yawning, “Just hurry up and pick one, I'm tired.”
“Ok, ok, I'm hurrying,” he said as he continued to walk up and down the aisle.
“If I had known you were going to be this picky, I would have chosen first.” said Misty, who was basically falling asleep standing up.
“Well, then be my guest....After you almighty princess of the Clow,” Eric replied, as he sarcastically bowed.
“Oh, shut up!” cried Misty, as she jumped onto the bed in front of her, “I'll take this one, have fun looking! Good night!”
Five minuets later, she was out like a light and Eric had finally chosen a bed; The one right beside Misty, so he could make sure nothing happened to her while they were sleeping.
(Aw! ^^)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night...
~~Misty's Dream~~ {...}- Misty's dialogue


{Where am I? Am I still in the mall? Where's Eric?} she said, looking all around her.
[Do not be afraid] said a voice that came from behind her.
{Huh?} she replied, turning around, making her face to face with a tall, somewhat slender man.
{AH! Who, who are you?} said Misty, startled by the sudden confrontation.
[I am Clow Reed. Creator of the Clow Cards and the book they lye in. And you, Misty Showron, are the next chosen Card Captor.]
{Me?! A Card Captor? But what about Eric? Shouldn't he be the Card Captor? He knew all of this before I did.}
[Misty, the cards, along with fate and destiny, have chosen you because you are the daughter of the one who changed the Clow Cards...The Card Mistress ...That is why the cards were released again. But do not worry about Eric, he will be helping you along on your journey.]
{The cards were released again? When were they released the first time?}
[Oh, many, many years ago, but that is not what is important...I have sent you this vision to let you know a few things.]
{Like what?}
[Well, for one, you cannot capture the magical cards without the legendary Star Rod, therefore, I shall teach you the incantation to unlock the Star Key:
* *
* Key of the stars, *
* with powers burning bright *
* reveal the staff, *
* and shine your light! *
* Release! *
* *
{So that's it? That's all I have to know?}
[For now...When you find The Card Mistress she will explain the rest; Trust your magic and rely on the cards, for they will help you in the near future. So long Misty, and take care of the Star Cards.]


~~End of the dream~~


Misty abruptly opened her jade eyes and shot straight up.
“Whoa...That was a weird dream...”
Eric was still next to her, sleeping like he hadn't slept forever.
Misty saw him and smiled.
*Maybe I should make sure that wasn't JUST a dream,* she thought, removing the key from her neck.
* *
* Key of the stars *
* with powers burning bright, *
* reveal the staff, *
* and shine your light! *
* Release! *
* *


With the incantation spoken, the key was encircled in a globe of light, as it rose from Misty's hands. It grew bigger and stayed still in the air, waiting for Misty to take hold of it.
Misty watched in awe as the key magically transformed into the Star Rod. She took hold of it and the light suddenly disappeared.
The sound of chanting and the bright lights awakened Eric; He looked over in Misty's direction and saw her holding the `Star Rod'. He quickly shot up, and rubbed his now wide olive-colored eyes.
“Misty...Is that, is that what I think it is?!” he said, still stunned to see the key in it's true form.
Misty looked over at Eric, just realizing she had woken him up.
“Oh, sorry, did I wake you?” she said, trying to hide the rod behind her back.
Eric raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, yeah....What's that behind your back?” he said, basically already knowing.
Misty looked behind her at the staff in her hands.
“Oh, this?!” she said, holding it where he could see it.
“It IS the Star Rod...But how..., how did you get it into that form, Misty?” he asked, still staring wide-eyed at the magical staff.
“Um...Well, I uh...Said the incantation...that's all....he, he...,” she responded, nervously as she tried to figure out how to explain this situation.
Eric again raised his eyebrow.
“Yeah...But who told you the incantation? Where did you hear it?”
`Umm, from my dream...Clow Reed told me...,” said Misty, with a cheesy and nervous smile planted on her face.
“From your dream?! How can you receive an incantation from a dream, Misty?”
“Well, I dunno, but that's where I got it; But why does it matter?! I know it now and that's all that counts,” she responded, flipping her golden-brown hair and crossing her arms.
Eric smiled, “Whatever you say...Let's go back to sleep...I can tell you're still tired.”
“*Yawn* he he, I think you may be right.”
Misty and Eric placed their little brunette heads back on their pillows and once again began to dream; But this time, there were no visions from deceased sorcerers, just fantasies ^_~

Chapter 8 (top)

Sakura and Li had been searching forever and were extremely exhausted.
“Li...I don't think I can walk anymore,” said Sakura, emerald eyes dreary and tired, “can we please...take a rest?”
Li looked over at her and sighed (^-^'), but before he could give a response, Sakura fell to her knees. She was about to hit the floor, but Li's lightning-quick reflexes allowed him to move fast enough to catch her.
Li smiled as he looked down at Sakura. “Of course Sakura, anything for you. Besides, you're already half way there.”
And with that, he laid her down on her back and sat next to her, gently brushing the hair from her half-closed eyes.
Eventually, Li drifted off with Sakura sleeping in his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Back to the mall displays...


Misty was awakened by the sun beams from a close-by window touching her tightly shut eyelids. She sat up and stretched, while slowly looking in every direction to see what had happened. As she glanced to the left, she spotted Eric sleeping like a rock, half-on and half-off his bed...She smiled as she watched him fall onto the floor. All she heard was a light _Ugh..._ and some movement. Soon the movement ceased and a tired-looking, brunette boy stuck his head up and looked in Misty's direction. Misty laughed a little as she examined him: his russet hair was sticking straight up, and is eyes of the same color were glassy and drowsy. His face was a glowing crimson and he had pillow and sheet indentions all over his face.
“What's so funny?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
Misty stopped laughing, but kept her dazzling smile. “Oh...me? Nothing really...”
Eric raised an eyebrow and brought himself into a standing position.
“No really *YAWN* what's so funny?” he asked again as he plopped down next to her, scratching his head.
Misty couldn't contain her laughter any longer. She burst out laughing, pulled her compact mirror from her purse, and held it up in front of him.
Eric turned an even deeper crimson as he jumped up at the sight of his appearance.
“Uh, I'll be right back,” he said, running in the direction of the restrooms.
Misty just continued to laugh as she watched him run away...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The Maze Card???...


Li slowly opened his eyes and kind of did a little jump thing when he fully opened them. He had forgotten what happened for a brief second and was startled by the “nothingness” that surrounded he and Sakura. Remembering that she was asleep in his lap, he lightly shook her to wake her and then gently kissed her forehead. (^^)
Sakura opened her jade eyes and saw Li staring down at her. She smiled at him and sat up, yawning in the process.
“Li,” she said, “let's continue looking for Eli and Meilin.”
Sakura rose from her spot on the “floor” and held out her hand to help Li up.
Li blushed a little (after all these years! He STILL blushes at Sakura!) and took her hand. She hurled him to his feet and they began walking in a direction. Suddenly, they both heard what sounded like yelling coming from one direction.
Sakura and Li looked at each other and nodded. Then, they began running in the direction of the shouting. When they finally reached their destination, they saw Meilin floating in the air and screaming like a mad lunatic.
Li sweat-dropped (-_-') and Sakura laughed a little. It was then that Meilin ceased the crying and the flailing of her floating arms and legs. She looked over at Li and Sakura.
“Oh! Thank goodness you've found me!! PLEASE get me down from here!!!!!!!” she screamed, flecking her ruby eyes.
Li sweat-dropped again (-_-') and said the incantation he had used to remove himself and Sakura from weightlessness. Sakura watched as Meilin fell in the direction of the floor, but someone, or something, caught her before she could hit it.
It was Eli! He had used the same strategy as Li had, to get himself down and had been looking for them for a while.
Meilin opened her garnet colored eyes and quickly looked at Eli. Then she strangled him with a “Thank-you” hug.
“Meilin! Meilin, it was really nothing, please let me go,” he pleaded as he placed her feet on the ground, with her arms still tightly around his neck.
Meilin finally let him go and then started in Li's direction. Li noticed and cringed, but held his ground; he's had WAY too much practice on dealing with the “Meilin strangle-hug”. Meilin flung her arms around Li as he stood there motionless and let her hug him, with out saying a word.
“Oh THANK YOU, LI!!” she said, still hugging him to death.
“No--Problem--Mei--lin,” was all he could manage to force out.
Sakura and Eli just stood there watching and laughed to themselves at Meilin and her “hero”.
Li had finally shaken off Meilin and was looking around and about.
“Hey, guys, it's great to have you guys and everything, but can we get going on finding a way OUT of here?!?!”
Sakura looked at him seriously, then smiled, “Of course Li; Let's go!” she said, pulling on Li's arm.
Li sighed (^-^') and smiled at Sakura, then followed, with her hand still clenched around his wrist.
Li's hand was beginning to turn a sort of bluish-purple color from Sakura's squeezing. He didn't notice though, until his hand started tingling and he couldn't feel it anymore.
“AH! Sakura, let go of my hand!” he cried desperately, while trying to pry her hand off. Sakura quickly released her grip and apologized. Then she continued on her way, with everyone following her, looking for SOMETHING, ANYTHING that could get them out of where they were, or at least tell them where they were.
Soon, they all realized that Meilin was no longer with them. Eli looked all around and tried to “feel” her. (more like SENSE her) Suddenly, he sensed something familiar coming from behind them. He turned to see Meilin holding some kind of weird-looking, gold object. Li raised a brown eyebrow.
“Uh, Meilin, what's that you're holding?”
Meilin looked down at her hands.
“Oh this?” she replied holding it so everyone could see it, “I`m not sure what it is. But it sure is pretty, huh?!”
Eli and Li do the amine fall. (^-^')
Sakura ran over to Meilin and they both “Oo--d” and “Awe--d” it.
“Hey wait a minuet,” said Sakura, looking closer at the object, “This, this is familiar...We've encountered something with this before...But I can't place what!”
Li waltzed over and took a look at the item; It was gold-plated and had indentions and paintings all over it. It also had a purple strap-type thing tied on each of its curved ends. Li's dark eyes widened as an image of Lela Mackenzie flashed into his mind. She was in what looked like ceremonial robes and was holding the object Meilin had found. Li shook the image out of his head.
“Sakura, that's the bell that Miss. Mackenzie used to free us from the `Maze Card'!” (Ok, ok, I KNOW that the bell disappeared after the Final Judgment, but let's pretend it didn't)
Sakura gasped. (<-- ^^that's a cool word ^^)
“It's is?!” Sakura closed her emerald eyes, then quickly shot them open again.
“It IS the `Maze Card', Li...That's why all of this all feels so familiar...We've gotta seal it.” Sakura said frantically.
“Sakura, how are we going to seal it, with out the `Star Key'? Misty has it, remember?” said Li, trying to calm her down.
“OH NO! You're right...She does have it, doesn't she...Well then,” she said, swiping the bell away from Meilin, “Let's get out of here and find her.”
Sakura quickly ran over to one of the walls and put the bell up to it. Then, with out a word spoken, the walls crumbed to the floor like sand in an hourglass.
“Let's go!” Sakura cried as she ran through the broken-down wall. Meilin, Li and Eli shortly followed after her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Mall, Mall, Mall...


Eric, after loads of persuasion, finally emerged from the restroom, looking MUCH better then he did upon entering. He had matted down his sticking-up hair with water and had washed his face thoroughly, which also made the sheet and pillow indentions disappear.
Misty was gazing out the window when Eric came out, so she didn't see him. Eric hadn't noticed her either, so he was looking around at some of the “nick-knacks” for sale at the store they were in.
Misty, sensing someone in the room, slightly turned her head and saw him looking at something little in his hand. She walked over to him and looked over his shoulder to see what was so interesting, but before she could see a thing, he jumped away from her, startled.
“AH! Don't DO THAT!” he screeched, grasping his chest.
“Oh...I'm sorry...,” she apologized.
“What you got there?” she asked, pointing at his cupped hands.
Eric looked down at his hands.
“Oh, this? It's nothing, I was just looking, that's all,” he replied nervously as he placed it back on the table where he had found. Misty shot up an eyebrow.
“Right...Well, whatever,” she said, `swatting' away the problem.


_CRASH_


“WHOA!” Misty and Eric said simultaneously, as they jerked their heads in the direction of the sudden sound.
“OW! LI! That hurt! Don't fall on me again!!!” shouted a woman's voice.
“Eli, can you NOT step on my head, please,” said the same voice, “SAKURA! GET OFF ME!”
Eric blushed.
“He he, that's my mom...MY MOM!” he said as he began running in the direction of the voices. He practically fell down the stairs because he was running so fast.
“ERIC! WAIT FOR ME!” cried Misty, as she ran to catch up with him.
When Eric made it up to where he heard the voices, he suddenly stopped and began laughing hysterically at what was in front of him. All four adults were stacked upon each other: Meilin was on the bottom, with Li and half of Sakura on her, and had Eli's feet resting on her head. Eric continued laughing at the sight. They all looked over in the direction of the laughing and saw Eric; he was almost crying. Misty finally managed to catch up with Eric and when she saw him laughing, she looked out into the clearing and saw the pile of parents. Then she began laughing, too. Pretty soon, Eli and Sakura were laughing, and them laughing made Li crack up. Everyone by now, except Meilin, was laughing.
“EXCUSE ME!!” shouted Meilin.
“CAN YOU ALL PLEASE GET THE HECK OFF OF ME!”
“Certainly, Meilin,” replied Eli, as he jumped off the top of the mound, using Meilin's head has a springboard.
“Gee, thanks a lot,” she muttered under her breath.
“I guess I'm next,” said Sakura as she slowly slipped off the side of the heap.
Finally everyone was off Meilin and they had reunited with Eric and Misty. Eric was currently being strangled by his mother while Misty talked with her parents. Eli was just sort of...there.
“Misty, may I please have the `Star Key' for a moment,” asked Sakura, holding out her hand.
“Uh, yeah, I guess so,” she said, removing the necklace from around her neck and handing it to Sakura.
Sakura held it out and chanted the incantation to release the key. (you guys all know it by now I'm sure, but just in case, I'll put it in here again)
* *
* Key of the stars, *
* with powers burning bright *
* reveal the staff, *
* and shine your light! *
* Release! *
* *
The small key gradually turned into the Star Staff and floated in the air, waiting for someone to remove it from weightlessness.
“Grab it,” Sakura said, looking at Misty.
“ME?! But why don't you take it? I mean, it IS yours,” she said, nervously.
“Misty, I know in my heart this is the right thing; Take the staff, now.”
Misty cringed a bit, and hesitantly grabbed the staff, causing the globe of light around it to fade away into nothing.
Misty held the staff out in front of her mother, as if asking her to take it. Sakura shook her head `No' and pushed it back towards Misty. Misty examined the Star Staff and looked up at her now smiling mother.
“What?” she asked her.
“Nothing...I'm just glad that I finally get to share this experience with you, Misty. I never realized, until now, how much I loved the adventures of catching the Clow Cards and transforming them. It just brings back so many wonderful memories.” she replied, continuing to smile.
Before Misty could say a word, two beings crashed through the glass window on the ceiling.

Chapter 9 (top)

Everyone stared as the two beings landed, somewhat softly, in front of the group. There was dust and glass everywhere, so it was REALLY hard to know who they were, that is until one spoke.
“Hello Sakura,” said a deep, masculine voice.
Sakura's emerald eyes widened as she searched her memory to see if she could identify the familiar voice. After a few moments of thinking and staring, she smiled brightly.
“CEROBEROS! IS THAT YOU!”
There was a slight laughter from behind the still settling dust.
“Yes, Card Mistress, it is I, Ceroberos, guardian beast of the seal and loyal companion to Card Captor Sakura.”
Sakura ran through the, yes, still settling dust to find Ceroberos, but ran into the other figure on her way.
It was still kind of cloudy, but she could make out a few of the person's features; The person was a female, she had long, midnight black hair that went to down to the middle of her back, in what seemed to be a braid. She couldn't make out the face very well, so she moved in closer, not realizing she was already pretty close. She heard familiar girlish laughter as she moved in closer until she was staring right into a woman's face. The woman had dark, midnight blue colored eyes and had an unmistakable smile.
“Hey Sakura,” she said, still laughing at Sakura's proximity.
“MADISON!!! OH MY GOSH! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU FOREVER!!” Sakura screamed as she threw her arms around her best friend's neck.
Finally the dust settled and everyone saw who the figures had turned out to be; Ceroberos and Madison Taylor. (with Sakura still draped around her neck)
Sakura realized everyone was staring and quickly let go of Madison and went for Ceroberos. She practically strangled him, she hugged him so tightly.
“Good to see you again, Ceroberos,” said Li, as he joined Sakura.
“LI!” cried Madison, as she threw her long arms around him.
“Oh, hi Madison!” he said, somewhat startled.
Sakura pried Madison off of Li and hugged him.
“Only I can hug Li, Madison; It's my little rule,” she giggled.
Madison sweat-dropped (-_-') but smiled at the happy couple.
There was a short silence, as they continued hugging. ^^
“OK! OK! Break it up, please!! We're in public!” cried Misty, as she walked over to her hugging parents.
“What? Oh, right, sorry Misty,” said Sakura, laughing a bit, then looking back at Li, who just shrugged.
Eric laughed, but was stopped by Meilin.
“He, he....Sorry Mom...”
Misty turned away from her parents, and walked over to Eric.
“What are you laughing at?!” she asked him in an exasperated (<--cool word ^^) tone.
Eric backed away from her.
“ME?! Nothing...” he said, furiously shaking his hands from side to side, “Anymore, he, he,” he finished, quietly.
“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!?!”
“Whoa, Misty honey calm down a bit,” said Madison, walking over to where the two teens stood, still glaring at one another.
“Who are you?” asked Misty, somewhat annoyed.
“Me? I'm Madison, an old friend of your mother's...How have you been these past 14 years, kid? I've only seen pictures...”
Misty raised an eyebrow.
“Why do YOU have pictures of ME?”
Madison smiled.
“Why, your mom and dad sent them to me after you were born. All of their old friends have them you know; You're probably a pretty popular kid.” she chuckled.
“Um...Ok...whatever you say....”
“Now back to you!” She said pointing at Eric, who jumped at the sudden finger in his face.
“WHAT DID I DO?!?” he screamed.
Everyone sweat-drops (-_-'), including Misty.
“ERR!! Boys!” she said walking away.
Madison giggled a bit and walked over to Sakura.
“You know, Sakura, those two remind me a lot of you and Li when you were kids...”
Sakura smiled.
“Yeah....WHAT?! Like me and Li??? Oh...THAT can't be a good sign...”
“Why not? You and Li are married and in love now...Why would that be awful for your daughter to have that same kind of relationship someday?” Madison asked, confused.
Sakura searched her mind for an answer, but found nothing reasonable to say in her favor.
“I suppose you could be right Madison...I just don't think she's ready, that's all.”
“Well when she IS, Sakura, she'll know...”
“Madison, there's something that kind of baffles me...” Sakura said, abruptly changing the subject.
“What's that?” she responded, twirling her black hair around her index finger.
“Well, what are you and Kero doing here? Now? With us, like this?....Not that I'm complaining, it's just that...someone had to tell you something was wrong, otherwise you probably wouldn't be here right now....”
Madison continued to twirl her hair and smiled.
“Kero sensed something abnormal here and we came, that's all...”
Sakura thought a moment about Madison's answer.
“Oh...That's it? Really? No one told you, Kero just `sensed` it?”
“Yep, that's all...He just `sensed' it,” Madison concluded with a dazzling smile.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A shadowy figure lurks close-by...


*No...This cannot happen...the Mistress' daughter mustn't obtain her powers...if she does, I shall be no more...Hmm...I suppose I should do something about this little situation...*
_PAUSE_
“A HA!” the figure concluded, snapping their rough fingers.
“He He He....This is the perfect idea...” they concluded, rubbing their coarse hands together.
*No one will ever suspect that it is me...Hmm, I should probably make myself a little more presentable, though...*
With those thoughts, words and the snapping of a finger, the figure vanished into thin air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to the main characters...


(Eric and Misty are standing back-to-back.)
“Can you NOT lean on me, please?!” said a still aggravated Misty.
Eric rolled his eyes.
“I don't know what you're taking about...I'm NOT leaning on you, in fact, I'm no where near even touching you...So back off, girlie,” he said, still agitated from Misty's coarse dialogue. (he he! The wonders of a Thesaurus!)
*ERR! Boys! I hate them! Especially this one...ERR! Why can't he be even the tiniest bit nice to me?! What the heck did I ever do to him?!* ~*Sigh*~ (^-^')
Meanwhile, Eric was lost in his own train of thought.
*_Humph_ GIRLS...why do you need `em?! All they do is nag, nag, nag! Especially her...Geeze, what's stuck up her butt! All I was doing was showing my sense of humor and she lashes out on me...I can't believe I thought I actually liked her...Even a little...”
So, they continued to be back-to-back until one of the adults said something.
“_sigh_ (^-^') Ok, you two; Can we PLEASE stop whatever disagreement you guys are having?! We NEED to get a move on and capture the rest of these cards...Now, both of you apologize to each other...NOW,” said a, surprisingly stern, Sakura.
(after that was said, they both had the “WHAT?!” look on their faces...he he...that's cute ^^)
Seeing that neither was willing to go first, she chose one.
“Misty, apologize.”
Misty quickly swung her head around and faced her mother.
“WHAT?! WHY SHOULD I APOLOGIZE! IT'S HIS FAULT FOR LAUGHING AT OUR FAMILY PROBLEMS! HE'S THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE APOLOGIZING!”
“Misty, I don't wanna here it...APOLOGIZE!”
Misty sighed (^-^')
“Whatever,” she muttered.
“I'm....s-s-sorry...” Misty stuttered, then placed her arms back over her chest.
Eric's eyes widened and he had that sympathetic/mad/angry look (in other words, he didn't know whether to be mad or sad, aka, forgiving)
“I'm sorry, too,” he said, still not facing her.
“Good, now that that little mishap is settled, let's get a move on and find the next card!” said Sakura as she jumped up and down, as if excited.
“He He, hold on, Kero, change into your, uh, earthly form, please,” said Madison, looking at the huge lion with wings next to her.
“_sigh_ (^-^') Very well, stand back, everyone.”
After a flash of light and huge wings encircling the monstrous animal, there came a little yellow stuffed animal-looking thing with wings standing in the place were the beast had stood just moments ago.
Li burst out laughing.
“WHY DID YOU GO--HAHAHAHA-- BACK TO THE--HAHAHA--STUFFED ANIMAL--HAHA--FORM--HAHAHAHAHA,” said Li, who was obviously NOT trying to contain his laughter.
Kero flew over to the laughing Li and bit his finger, then flew over to Sakura. Li just held his finger in pain.
Sakura laughed slightly as she watched her husband shake his hand up and down as it throbbed in pain.
“Kero, I'm so glad you're back to help us! I missed you SO much,” Sakura said, hugging her long lost buddy. ^^
“Oh Sakura, it's great to see you again too...” Kero replied sentimentally.
“Kero,” said Sakura as she released her grip on the yellow animal.
“Hmm?”
“Where's Yue? I mean, if you're here and Madison's here, where's Julian? Shouldn't he be here too?”
Kero thought about Sakura's question for a moment. He was just about to answer, when the Maze Card began to change again. They had forgotten all about it when they were reunited.
Sakura ran in Misty's direction.
“Misty! Do still have the staff out?!” she called breathlessly as she continued running.
Misty looked down at her hands. Sure enough, there was the `Star Staff '.
Misty looked up at her mother and nodded her head “yes”.
Sakura had finally reached her daughter and was trying hard to catch her breath.
“Ok, the first thing you need to know when capturing a magical card is that it must be weakened before you can confine it's powers.”
Misty thought of this for a moment, then got an idea. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard on her target. In her mind she visualized something striking the card. Suddenly, her jade eyes shot open and a lightning bolt, which came out of no where, struck the large green walls of the already spiraling maze.
Sakura looked on in amazement.
“I think I'll ask you how you did that later,” she sighed (^-^')
Sakura shook it off, and regained her former train of thought.
“Ok, Misty, I need you to follow these instructions; it's the only way we can capture this card; Are you ready?”
Misty shook her head, “Ready for anything.”
“Ok,” said Sakura, “repeat after me,”
“Maze Card, return to your powers confined! Star Card!”
Misty repeated what her mother had told her to say. After she finished, the large green walls of the maze began to spiral in the opposite direction and turn into beams of white light. Those beams of light eventually turned into a card and hovered in front of Misty.
“Why is it just....floating there?!” she asked ignorantly.
Sakura laughed. “Misty, it's waiting for you to take it.”
*ME?! Why ME...* she thought.
Misty grabbed the card quickly and shoved it in her mother's direction.
“Here, Mom, YOU take it....I, I don't know how to use it...so here.”
Sakura pushed it back in Misty's direction.
“No Misty, YOU captured it; it's your card now,” she said, smiling weakly.
Misty examined her new piece of property and smiled.
Eric was standing behind her smiling to himself at Misty's achievement.
*Wow...she did it...I don't believe it...Maybe she's not so lame after all...*
Meilin looked around at the group and spotted Sakura and Li congratulating and hugging their new CardCaptor; she saw Eli and Madison talking and smiling to each other; then there was Kero, who was just kinda floating there, still thinking about what Sakura had asked him about Yue. When she finally reached Eric, she saw that he was smiling and laughing to himself.
Meilin raised an eyebrow.
“What are you so happy about?”
Eric quickly snapped out of his “happiness trance” and turned to face Meilin.
“Oh me?! Nothing!”........

Chapter 10 (top)

Meilin raised her eyebrow at her peculiar son and turned back to the group of happy people. Misty had gotten Sakura and Li to stop smothering her with congratulations, and was once again examining her card.
*Wow...I can't believe I caught this...I actually did something right for once* she thought, smiling to herself.
Eric noticed her staring at the card and smiling. He walked over behind her and looked over her shoulder; Misty didn't seen to notice though.
“I gotta say, I'm really impressed,” he said with a smile.
Misty looked in his direction.
“Glad I have your approval,” she said sarcastically, with her usual smile.
Eric blushed at her pearly whites, but returned her smile with one of his own.
Just then, a very strong “breeze” blew through the desolate mall.
“Where could that be coming from?! The whole building is sealed shut!” said Madison logically.
*Hey!* thought Misty, *I sense that force again...Maybe I should follow it...*
With that, she ran in the direction her feelings were taking her. No one but Eric and Eli seemed to notice, though. Eric ran after her, while Eli stayed behind watching them, smiling. When Misty's senses grew intensely strong, she knew she was close and stopped.
“Where is it?” she thought aloud.
Eric was turning the corner and spotted her standing in the middle of the floor looking around.
He casually strolled over.
“Um...What are you looking for?” he asked, somewhat knowingly.
Misty quickly turned around at the sudden break in silence. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Eric.
“What, are you following me now?”
Eric raised an eyebrow as well, and rolled his evergreen eyes.
“Uh, no! I sensed something and I followed you. Sorry for trying to be of some help!” he replied, doing his best to defend himself.
Misty rolled her eyes.
“Well, if you sensed something too, why did you ask what I was looking for, dumb-butt?? And why are you so over-protective of yourself?! You're so defensive and wimpy! Act like a REAL man, please! Then you'll be helping, k?”
Eric grumbled and turned away.
Misty said nothing more and rolled her eyes again as she turned her attention back to looking for “the force”. Suddenly, a strong wind carried her up to the ceiling and over to a high wall. Eric didn't notice, though. (Um...he doesn't notice too much, does he??); he was facing the opposite direction.
Misty struggled to break free from the grip of whatever this was.
“Hey! I think I found it!” she shouted to Eric, desperately trying to receive his attention.
Eric quickly swiveled around at the sound of her voice.
“WHOA! How'd you get up there?”
Misty sweat-dropped (-_-')
“Whatever we're sensing did it, OK! Now, help me seal it!”
“Um...Ok...what am I supposed to do? You're the one with the sealing wand!”
“But you've got magic too, Eric, I can sense it! Look deep into your soul and visualize it, and it happens! TRUST ME!” she said, continuing to struggle.
*Right...Ok, Eric, think hard, and concentrate...*
Just as Eric was beginning to go deep into thought, “the force” released its grip on Misty and she came floating down safely to the ground. Just as she was placed back onto the ground, a woman surrounded in bright, white lights appeared in front of her.
“Eric! What card is this?!”
Eric shot his jade eyes open and saw the brightly lit being.
“I, uh...Um...”
_PAUSE_
“It's the Windy Card!!” shouted a voice from behind Eric.
Misty proceeded to seal the card.
“Windy Card, return to your powers confined; Star Card!”
The light being quickly turned into a card and flew over to Eric.
“Eric! Take the card!” Misty shouted as she watched Eric look around behind him. He turned around and saw the card there, took it and returned to the searching process.
Misty walked over to him. “Now what are you looking for?”
“A voice...”
“A voice? Sorry but you can't see `voices',” she replied.
“No, I mean a voice told you the name of the card...Where did it come from?” he said, continuing to look around.
“Oh, wait,” he said, looking down at the Windy Card, “I've gotta sign this.”
“Sign it? Why?”
“Because,” he said, searching his pockets for a pen, “that way, it can't be released again; Unless they're transformed again...AHA!” (he found a pen, OK??!)
Eric signed the Windy Card with care and placed it in his pocket.
“Did you sign the Maze Card, yet?” he asked, holding out the pen.
“Oh, um, no...Do I have to?”
Eric laughed.
“You've really got a lot to learn about all this, Misty.”
Misty blushed slightly, and took Eric's pen.
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
After she signed the card, she placed it in her pocket and looked around at their surroundings.
“AAAH!” cried Eric, as he jumped back away from Misty.
A startled Misty jumped.
“What?!”
Eric pointed behind her.
“What's that?!”
Misty turned around and came face to face with a little flying animal.
“AAAH!” she cried, jumping back next to Eric.
“What...Who are you?” she asked “it”.
The little animal smiled.
“I am your guardian, Misty; My name is Sparkle, but you may call me Sparky.”
Misty examined her new companion. `Sparky' was whitish-silver with metallic blue and purple `sparkles' (Ok, Ok, they're spots) all over. Her eyes were silvery blue and her wings were a light, shiny blue.
“Um, yeah great...but, um, what kind of animal are you?” said Eric hastily.
Misty slapped him on the arm.
“I'm a cat, you dip...Can't you tell?!”
“I can Sparky! And that's all that matters, coz you're my guardian, not Eric's.”
“Well,” she said , flying over to Misty, “technically, I'm BOTH of your guardians; you're partners, so therefore I'm both of your guardians.”
Misty and Eric looked at each other.
“She's not my partner, Sparkly cat...”
“Yeah, and he's not mine either.”
Sparky sweat-dropped (-_-').
“Ok, first of all, I'm `Sparkle', not `Sparkly cat', got it! Second, you two are partners. Clow Reed destined you two to be partners, therefore, you are; like it or not!”
Misty and Eric crossed their arms and turned away from each other.
*This is going to be very interesting, isn't it?* thought Sparkle.

Chapter 11 (top)

When Sakura had finished catching up with Madison and Kero, she noticed that Misty was gone; and so was Eric. By this time, Meilin was freaking out wondering where he was and blah, blah, blah, etc. Sakura noticed Eli standing all alone, and ran over to him.
“Eli...Did you see where Eric and Misty went?!” she asked frantically.
Eli smiled.
“Sakura, you should know me well enough by now to know the answer to that! Of course I saw where they went, and I can only tell you this: They're perfectly fine and are on their way back as we speak.”
Sakura raised an eyebrow.
“Well, why can't you just tell me which way they went?”
Eli scratched his head.
“Um, well, I uh...kind of...don't remember...hehehehe...”
Sakura sweat-dropped. (^-^')
Then she smiled.
“Eli, you haven't changed a bit.”
“I, uh, hope that's a good thing!” he said smiling.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to Misty, Eric and Sparkle


The group was just rounding a corner, when Sparkle over-heard frantic, high-pitched whining.
“What on earth is making that noise?!” she asked, landing on Misty's shoulder,
Eric suddenly cringed up.
“Uh, that's my mom...” he said, scratching his head of brunette locks.
*Crap!* he thought.
“She's gonna kill me because I ran off like that...Oh man...Why does she have to be so over protective?!”
Misty and Sparkle looked at each other, then back at Eric.
“Just show her the Windy Card; then, she'll be so happy, she'll forget about the whole `running off' thing.” concluded Sparkle, fluttering her shiny, little wings.
Eric thought about Sparkle's suggestion.
“Hmm, that MAY work...Hey, it's nice to know you're good for something Sparkly Cat...Come on...Let's go before we get into even more trouble.”
Sparkle grimaced.O_o
“I don't think I'm going to be too fond of that brat,” said Sparkle, slightly annoyed and slowly lifting off of Misty`s shoulder.
Misty giggled.
“Calm down, Sparky...He just does it to get a rise out of you...But don`t worry, you`ll eventually get used to him" *I know I already have.*
Sparkle settled down and landed back on Misty's shoulder.
*Sigh* (^-^') “I suppose you're right...Come on, let's go get the little weasel in trouble, shall we?”
“Sounds like a plan to me!”
Misty smiled mischievously.
“Eric, wait up!” she cried, rushing up to him.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone's reunited...again...


“AH! Eric, my darling baby boy, are you alright?! Are you hurt?!” cried a frantic Meilin, as the pair of teens and the guardian rounded the corner.
Everyone, especially Eric, sweat-drops (-_-').
*Sigh* (^-^') “Mother, I'm FINE...Oh, by the way, look what I caught,” he concluded, nervously as he reluctantly held the card out for all to see.
“We have another one! Yes! Only 50 more to capture!” cried a happy Sakura as she jumped up and down.
“Um, actually, 49...Misty has the `Illusion Card',” corrected Sparkle, still on Misty's shoulder.
Everyone stared at the metallically sparkled feline resting on Misty's shoulder.
“Um, who are you?” asked a confused Li.
“Oh, I'm sorry! I'm Sparkle...Nice to meet you all.”
“Um, yeah, but where did you come from and what are you?!” asked Meilin, rather bluntly.
Sparkle fiercely eyed Meilin. O_o
“I'm Misty and Eric's guardian...I was created by Clow Reed's magic to watch over the new card captors.”
A confused look crossed Sakura's face.
“But Clow Reed died long ago...he wouldn't be able to create any new guardians while dead...could he?” she gulped.
Sparkle pondered a moment, then answered.
“Yes, but I didn't say I was created by Clow Reed HIMSELF...Just by one who possesses large amounts of his magic,” she said, winking in Eli's direction.
“You made the Sparkly Cat, Eli?...Why?” asked Meilin.
“It's either SPARKLE or SPARKY!! Not `Sparkly Cat'! Geeze, I see where the boy gets it!” cried ` Sparky '.
“I told you to ignore it...who cares, they just do it to annoy you,” whispered Misty.
“Whatever, now back to my question to Eli...” said Meilin, flustered.
Eli smiled.
“Yes, I created Sparkle. I created her because I knew that the children would need someone to guide and guard them along the far and treacherous journey to sealing magical cards.”
Meilin raised an eyebrow.
“Well, what about Kero and Yue...Why can't they help them?” asked Sakura.
“Well, you see Sakura, Ceroberos and Yue are YOUR guardians; they serve only YOU. Therefore, I created Sparkle for Misty and Eric,” he concluded with a smile.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Shadowy Figure again...


*Hmm...Now the brats have received a guardian...This is getting serious...I MUST do something! I've got to stop them...If I can't obtain the `Star Cards', NO ONE else will either!* thought the figure angrily.
“I've got to devise a plan....a plan to prevent the cards from being recaptured...”
The figure thought for a moment...then perked up with a sudden thought.
“AHA! I've got the perfect plan, this time and not even those little brats can ruin this one...” said the figure while smiling evilly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to the gang...


Sakura, Li, Misty and Eric simultaneously spun around.
“What was that? Did anyone else feel that...evil presence?” asked Sakura, rather worriedly.
“I felt it, Mom,” said Misty, clutching the `Star Rod' tighter.
“Me too...” replied Li, looking around furiously.
Eric was still sensing the presence and didn't respond.
“Eric...what's wrong?” asked Misty as she shot a glance and him with her jade eyes.
Eric returned to reality, his thoughts being interrupted.
“Huh? Oh, it's nothing...C'mon, let's get outta' here,” he responded shaking his head violently and walking away.
“Oh, that's bull...C'mon...What was wrong?” Misty lectured, placing her hands on her hips.
“W-what are you talking about Misty...it was nothing, ok....n-nothing.” he said nervously while turning from her.
Misty grimaced at him. O_o
“Whatever...but I know your lying...C'mon, can we find a way outta'...” Misty trailed off.
“What's wrong?” asked Li, worriedly.
Misty was definitely feeling something...something evil. She couldn't quite place where it was coming from, but she knew it was there.
“Misty,” Li said shaking her, “What's wrong with you?!”
Misty was shaken out of her concentration, making her loose the feeling.
“I-I felt it again, Dad...That presence...it's close...or at least, it was.”
“Yes...She's right; I feel it too,” stated Sparkle, who was now floating by Eli.
“Although, it's strange but, the presence seems, somehow, familiar...I'm not quite sure why...” concluded Sparkle, her metallic wings shinning in the dimly lit room.
_CRASH_
Everyone averted their glances in the direction of the sudden sound. Eli was the first to comment.
“And so it begins...”
Everyone looked at him rather confused.
“What does that mean?!” asked Meilin, eagerly.
Eli smiled evilly.
“Hmp...the next transformation is beginning...You'll understand soon enough...That is, when the time is right...Be alert...” he explained, “Oh, that reminds me, I've got to go now...Bye!” And with a snap of his fingers and a rising dust cloud, Eli vanished.
“Oh great...here we go again,” sighed Kero.

Chapter 12 (top)

Li rolled his eyes at the yellow `stuffed animal'.
"What are you talking about Kero?" asked Madison, cautiously.
"Well, you heard him didn't you?! He said `the next transformation is beginning`...Duh! What do you think that means?!"
Everyone thought for a moment...But no one seemed to understand what Kero was getting at.
"What's `the next transformation' supposed to be?" asked Eric curiously.
Kero sighed, *Sigh* (^-^')
"That's a good question, kid, I'll let you know when I've figured it out!"
Everyone sweat-drops. (-_-')
"Well, Kero, how are we supposed to prepare for `the next transformation' if we don't know what it is, where it is, or when it's coming?!" asked an exasperated Sakura.
Kero placed his paw on his forehead.
"Like I said to the brat, I'll let you know when I figure it out...."
Eric shot him a menacing look. O_o
"I'm NOT a brat....stuffed animal..." said Eric as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Kero rolled his beady, little eyes.
"Anyway, you could either wait for me to figure it out, wait for `the next transformation', whatever that is, or you could look for a way out of here and Eli for an answer. Choose whatever suits ya'."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guess who! It's the Shadowy Figure!!!...


"Good, my time is almost here....Then I can test the weak powers of that annoying little group that keeps interfering with my evil plans..." said the S.F. (aka Shadowy Figure).
"And my disguise is perfect...no one will ever know who I REALLY am...Bwahahahahaha!!"
Just then, the laughing ceased.
*Hmm, mustn't be too loud or the brats may hear me and come sooner than expected...*
"I should probably get a move on and begin this.... Morpheus! Are you ready yet?!"
Just as they yelled (AN: the S.F.), a little black leopard pounced into the S.F's chamber.
"Yes master, I'm ready, let's go knock these losers off!!" he said, running playfully into a wall as if attacking something.
The figure sighed, *Sigh* (^-^')
*Why was I cursed with such a stupid companion??* they thought, slapping the little black form, which was still running into the wall.
"How about you change into the more frightening form before we leave...Then you'll at least look intimidating."
The black feline thought for a moment then jumped up happily.
"Ok master! Here goes nothing!"
Morpheus closed his little black eyes as midnight blue wings surrounded him.
When the transformation was complete, there stood an enormous, full sized leopard with midnight blue wings and dark, firey eyes.
"Good, that's much better. C'mon, let's go put the annoyances to rest Morpheus.
"Yes master," said Morpheus, as he quickly bowed his head.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
`The Next Transformation'...


The ground violently shook as the two beings entered from the dark realm into the world.
No one knew what was happening, except Kero.
"THIS IS IT! THIS IS `THE NEXT TRANSFORMATION'!!" he cried over the loud, abrupt crashing of falling cement and high-pitched screaming.
"KERO! TRANSFORM INTO CEROBEROS, NOW!!" cried Sakura as she held on tightly to Li and Misty.
Kero quickly nodded his head and closed his eyes as his massive, white wings encircled his being. (Wow, that's a pretty good sentence for having a B- in English 2!)
Just then, Meilin spotted someone through the rising dust clouds.
"MIKA!!!!!!!!" she cried as she ran to her ragged-looking daughter.
"Oh, h-h-hi, Mom..." she managed to spit out before collapsing into her mother's arms.
Eric saw his mother opposite of where everyone else was and ran over to investigate.
"Mom, what are you doing over...." he trailed off. "Is that....M-Mika?!" he cried in disbelief.
Meilin looked over at her confused son with tears in her eyes.
"Yes, Eric...This bruised and battered young woman is your sister..." she said, trying as hard as possible to restrain her tears.
Eric hugged his mother and sister tightly; This was his only family, he couldn't stand around and watch them suffer.
He quickly released his embrace on the two women and rose to his feet.
He suddenly became extremely angry and took off to where the rest of the group was getting ready to fight.
"Eric! Where are you going?!" shouted Meilin hastily.
But Eric ignored her and ran on; he refused to allow his family to be treated like this and was hungry for revenge.
He suddenly halted next to Misty, who was nervously clutching the `Star Rod', which she hadn't put down since she had received it. (weirdo O_o)
Misty glanced over at him, sensing something was wrong...His aura was a bright red...Why was he angry? (AN: I'm assuming that red means angry, and if not, it does now ^^') Did he know something about this transformation thing that no one else did?
She almost asked when she spotted Meilin holding someone...A girl...
Finally, she realized who it was and knew why Eric was so angry.
It was Mika, all battered and bruised; her clothes torn in every which way possible.
She smiled at Eric's determination as she averted her glance back to the beginning battle.
As she did so, a huge mass of earth rose from the tiled floor of the mall. (AN: Never thought the mall could be this exciting, did you?) Everyone assumed their battle stances and prepared to have one fierce and tough battle.
As they took their places, the two beings who had caused all this chaos rose from the ground and came to halt next to the large plank of earth.
"Hey....Who are they?!" shouted Meilin pointing in the direction of the two beings.
Eric narrowed his evergreen eyes.
"They're the ones responsible..." he said to himself, as his expression grew angrier.
Misty sensed him getting even angrier and looked in his direction to see him fiercely looking at the individuals. She got a tad worried about what he'd do, so she walked over to try and clam him down a bit.
"Eric...A-Are you...Ok?" she asked cautiously, as not to get too much of a rise out of him.
Eric quickly turned in Misty's direction, his eyes still narrowed and full of hatred.
Misty cringed at the look in his eyes. Even though she'd only known him for about a week, he didn't seem like the kind of person who would let their anger take control of them that easily. Misty took a deep breath and asked him again,
"I said, are you Ok?"
Eric's face softened a little when he looked into Misty's eyes...Was that worry?! Was she worried about him!
Misty frowned at the no response and tried again.
"Hello? Anyone home?" she said, waving her hands in front of his face.
Eric immediately snapped out of his eye gazing and back to reality.
"Huh? Oh, Sorry....Did you say something?" he asked, a little confused.
Misty sweat-dropped. (-_-')
*Sigh* (^-^') "Ok, for the 100th time: are you Ok?"
"Uh, yeah I'm fine...why?" he responded scratching his head full of chestnut locks.
Misty raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not that stupid, Eric, why are you angry? And what's up with the look towards those...guys...Oh no! We forgot about the battle! AH! C'mon!! Let's kick some major demon butt!" she concluded, smiling wickedly.
Eric smiled back.
"C'mon, we'll continue this conversation later," he said jogging up next to Ceroberos, with Misty following behind.
"Where have you two been?! We've needed you! C'mon! You're lucky nothing's happened yet," said Ceroberos, as he nudged them both up next to Li and Sakura.
The S.F. smirked when they saw the two teens in the front of the group of, so-called, "losers".
Eric's rage began to take over him again, but Misty quickly snapped him out of it with a slap on the back of his head.
She smiled.
"It's for your own good."
"Hm, hm, hm...." laughed the S.F.
They turned their attention back to the beings in front of them.
"What's so funny?!" shouted Eric angrily.
The S.F. smirked.
"Why, this child's play, of course...You all are pathetic...I could probably kill you all with out using magic at all..." responded the cloaked being. (AN: look, I'd say whether it's he/she, but to tell u the truth, I don't know who I'm making it yet, so bear with me, please!! ^^')
"What are you talking about?! You can't beat ALL of us...You're just one...erm....person!" shouted Eric, dauntlessly. (<--- AN: I like that word ^^')
The S.F. smirked once more, but said nothing in response to the boy's "weak" comeback.
"Who are you anyway?" asked Misty, curiously.
The figure held their smile and slowly removed their hooded cloak revealing Tori Avalon.
Sakura's mouth dropped to the floor.
"TORI?!?! What the heck are YOU doing here??!!" she shouted, exasperatedly.
`Tori' smirked again.
"Hello Sakura...Long time, no see...How's it been little sister?"
Sakura continued to stare wide eyed at Tori. There was NO WAY this was her loving, over protective brother Tori Avalon! He'd never resort to hurting the ones he loved for the sake of pure enjoyment! This had to be someone disguised as him. Sakura promised herself that she wouldn't let the looks of this evil being interfere with this bitter battle `til the end.
Li glanced at Sakura who was still gaping at `Tori' being here and now, looking and acting the way he was. He closely examined `Tori's' features and noticed something odd. On the lower right side of his neck, there was a mark: it was a little devilish face with evil, squinting eyes and large horns emerging from the head.
Li squinted his eyes slightly, trying to get a closer look at the writing under the picture, but he couldn't make it out very well. The only word he could read was "fire".
Suddenly, his eyes widened; this was a demon! He had come all the way from the dark realm just to battle the group....But why?
*What could he want?* he thought as he looked around the group of people. Suddenly, he halted at Misty and Eric. Whoever this demon was, they were after Misty and Eric's magic...they wanted the `Star Cards' for themselves and wanted Their powers to obtain them.
*NO! He'll never take away Misty...or Eric! I won't stand for it! We've got to stop this thing....but, how?*
Sakura was now finished with the gaping and thinking and was focused on `Tori' when she noticed that not only was he not doing anything, but he was looking in the direction of Misty and Eric. What could he want with them?! They're just kids....kids with magical powers, but none the less just kids...
She suddenly gasped as she came to realize what he wanted. (AN: we've been through this, so I won't write it again, k ^^)
Then she spotted Li looking, not only deep in thought, but angry as well.
"Li," she whispered, "What's wrong with you?"
"....." no response.
Sakura frowned and became slightly annoyed. So she jabbed Li in the side with her elbow.
"Ouch!" he let out, "What was that for?!"
Sakura smiled, happy to finally have his attention.
"I asked you a question," pretending he remembered it, or even heard it.
"Uh, Ok, what's the question?" he sarcastically replied.
"I asked you what was wrong with you...so, what was?" she asked, crossing her arms.
Li thought of a response.
"I think I know a way to stop him Sakura...but I'm gonna need everyone's help, got it?"

Chapter 13: The End?(top)

Yeah! Welcome to my final chapter!! I'll bet you're really sad, huh? *cough, cough*, right, sure u r! Anyway, I wanna thank all that reviewed and all that read my last 12 chapters...sorry this story has taken so long, as well...I've been EXTREMELY busy! Ok, on to the story now!

Sakura blankly stared at her husband for a moment, then nodded.
"Ok then Li, what's your plan?" she asked assertively.
Li smiled and moved closer to Sakura, as if telling her a secret.
Sakura nodded every once and a while and smiled after Li was finished.
"Li, that just might work...but how are we supposed to let everyone know about this when we're all scattered about?" asked Sakura, crossing her arms for `protection'.
Li scratched his head and looked around.
"Uh, I was hoping you could help me with that one, Sakura," he responded, still scratching his chestnut head.
Sakura sweat-dropped. (-_-')
"I thought you had this all planned out!" she cried, just as `The Final Transformation' began.
`Tori' looked over in Sakura and Li's direction and spotted them fighting.
"You two!" he screamed as he pointed in their direction, "Shut up already! I'm trying to get something done and you're over here yelling and screaming like a couple of psychotic retards!!"
Sakura and Li stopped arguing and turned to face the imposter.
"I know you're not my brother." Sakura stated simply.
`Tori' crossed his arms.
"Hmm, oh really and what makes you say that, monster?" he asked, trying to be as much like Tori as possible.
Sakura became red faced (~_~')
"DON'T CALL ME THAT, YOU GAKI!" she cried, huffing and puffing hard, trying to regain her composer.
`Tori' jumped a little at her tone, but then smiled evilly.
"What is so funny, baka?!" she asked, a little more calmly, now remembering that this was not her real brother.
The cheat laughed.
"Why you are, Card Mistress....and you're right, I am not your brother...But, can you guess what I am?" he responded, again smiling evilly.
Sakura's gaze hardened as she examined the man; then she remembered the mark on his neck.
"You're a demon," she simply stated.
"You're half right Mistress, I am a demon...But I am something else as well...hahaha!
Sakura looked at Li who was whispering something to Eric, Ceroberos and Misty.
"Li," she said lightly hitting him, "if he's only half demon, what else could he possibly be?"
Li looked at her and thought momentarily.
"Sakura....close your eyes and try to sense something..." he said, getting off her question's subject.
Sakura looked at him quizzically.
"But what for, Li?"
"Just trust me Sakura...try it and tell me what you sense."
Sakura sighed (^-^') and closed her emerald eyes. For a moment she felt nothing unusual, in fact, she felt nothing but the demon's magic.
Just then her eyes shot open.
*Wait...the demon has...magic?? But that would mean he's....*
Sakura gasped and looked at Li again.
"Li, is he a Clow Card????" she whispered.
Li had already sensed it before, but tried once more to make sure. Then he nodded his head unenthusiastically.
"Maybe not a CLOW Card...but possibly something that Clow Reed created."
"But Clow Reed's dead, Li...Unless he planned this WAY before I even existed, then...." she paused.
"What Sakura?" he asked, confused.
"Li, that means that Eli has something to do with this. I sense Clow Reed's magic! So if it's not a Clow Card, then maybe it's a different kind of card....."
Sakura thought for a moment before hearing Li's input in her theory.
"Sakura, you're right...Clow's magic is in him, I can feel it...But why would Eli want the Star cards? I mean that's why this baka is here in the first place, to take the Cards and Misty and Eric's powers."
"I'm not positive, but I honestly don't think that Eli wants their magic or the Star Cards...He's already immensely powerful and has enough magic to make any cards he...wants....Wait a minuet! Li, this thing is a card...but what kind of card I'm not sure."
"What makes you say that Sakura?"
"Well, if Clow's magic created it, and it's not only a demon, then the only other logical explanation would be that it's some kind of a magical card."
Li rubbed his chin, nodded and looked over at the demon, who was `threatening' Ceroberos and Eric for constantly arguing with him.
"LION AND ANNOYING CHILDREN, BE SILENT NOW OR YOU SHALL REGRET IT IN A MOMENTS TIME!" cried an agitated demon.
Ceroberos was willing to be a little more subtle since he ran out of things to say, but Eric and Misty weren't finished yet; they wanted to annoy this thing long enough for Sakura and Li to come up with a plan.
Li smiled and looked back at Sakura.
"Sakura, my plan will work. I've already gotten Misty, Eric and Ceroberos in on the beginning; now, let's begin the next part." he said, quickly glancing back at the group of `annoyances'.
Sakura looked in their direction as well and noticed the demon becoming more and more red faced (~_~') every second.
"Li, if we're going to do this, we better start now; who knows what the thing will do to get them to shut up," said Sakura, worriedly.
Just as Sakura predicted, the demon lashed out a large stream of magic directly at Eric. He managed to push Misty out of the way, but before he had the time to move himself, the magic struck him, hard. Hard enough to where he flew about twenty feet from the group. Luckily, Meilin hadn't seen what happened because she was busy tending to Mika. Misty looked in his direction timidly, then turned back to the demon, scowling.
"You will pay for that you wicked creature from the depths of Hell!"
The demon just smiled.
"Bring it on little girl." (AN: ok, yeah that's a little retarded, but I'm trying all right ^^')
Misty became angrier than she had been when Eric was flung backward. She glanced back there one more time to make sure he was all right and found Madison tending to him. Then she turned her attention back at the demon and glared once more.
"No one calls me `little girl', you baka. You'll be sorry you ever said that."
The demon laughed once more.
"We'll just see about that; C'mon! Let's get this over with."
With a flick of his wrist, a long, black staff with a glowing, red ball on top appeared in his hands.
Misty held out the Star Key and chanted the incantation to release it:


* *
* Key of the stars, *
* with powers burning bright *
* reveal the staff, *
* and shine your light! *
* Release! *
* *


As the light dimmed down a little and staff grew from the key, Misty grabbed it, keeping her irate, emerald eyes fixed upon the imp.
Before the demon had time to call upon his dark powers, Misty closed her eyes for a minuet, then shot them open again just as a large lightning bolt came out of no where and struck him, making him collapse and his hidden interior revealed. (AN: his disguise as Tori vanished and he returned to his original form)
"You are pretty strong for someone who has had their powers only a short time, but I would expect nothing less from the daughter of the Card Mistress and a Li Clan leader. But you have not shaken me, for it will be harder than using measly lightning bolts and the three cards you've captured to defeat me."
Misty looked at him quizzically and raised an eyebrow.
"Are you saying that you give up?"
The demon smirked.
"No, of course not. But it would be a waste of my time to defeat someone who can only throw worthless lightning bolts and has underdeveloped powers."
Misty puckered her brow, ready to lunge at him at any given time. Sakura walked over to Misty and faced the fiend. She focused her eyes on him then whispered,
"Time"
Just as the last letter was spoken, the entire room became still and everyone except Misty, Eric, Sakura, and Li remained frozen in time.
Misty looked at her mother in awe.
"Mom, h-how did you do that?!"
Sakura side-glanced at her daughter and smiled as she held up the Time Card.
Misty smiled back.
"But where did you get that one? I never captured anything called `Time'." stated a confused Misty.
"I'll explain after you seal this card, ok." she said, glancing at the frozen demon.
Misty raised an eyebrow,
"THAT is a Star Card?? But which one?" exclaimed Misty, pointing at the motionless imp.
Just as Misty finished he question, Li walked over.
"No, this is not a Star Card. It`s from a deck called `The Dark Cards`,"
"Oh, ok, but which card is it?" Misty asked.
"I-It's the D-Demon C-Card," replied a weary voice from behind the family.
Misty turned to see Eric, limping toward them with an agonizing expression on his injured face.
"Misty, hurry and seal it before `Time' wears off," said Sakura anxiously, as she took hold of Eric and held him up for support.
"But don't I have to weaken it first?" she asked, looking around at the group of individuals.
"You u-used the T-Time, that's w-weakening it; c-capture it n-now!" replied a stuttering Eric, who was resting on Sakura for assistance.
Misty turned her gaze from her injured friend and back to the motionless demon standing before them.
*Well, here goes nothing*
"Demon Card, return to you powers confined; Dark Card!"
Just as the incantation finished, `Time' had run out and the demon's agonizing screams could be heard throughout the building as swirls of black and gray beams joined together and formed into a rectangular shape that hovered before Misty.
*I-I can't believe I did it...* she thought, quite stunned as she grabbed the black card before her.
Sakura and Li looked at each other then around and smiled brightly as the people that had disappeared began to return, bewildered and confused.
"Congratulations Misty....You passed `The Final Transformation'," stated a deep, husky voice from behind the green-eyed teen.
Everyone turned around and spotted Eli, smiling happily with the rest of the group standing behind him. (AN: by `the rest of the group' I mean Meilin, Mika, Kero, Madison, etc)
"Eli...Did you do all this?" Sakura asked, skeptically.
Eli smiled (AN: you know that impish smile he has ^^')
"Yes Sakura, I did," he simply said.
"But why? What was the point?" asked Li, who was just as confused as the lost and found people wondering about the, once again, packed mall.
Eli continued to smile.
"Why Li, you should know the answer to that question, for I did the same with Sakura after she transformed the Clow Cards."
Sakura searched her memory to find what scene Eli was talking about; when she remembered it.


~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~


"Eli?! You're the one that's been causing all of this trouble for Readington? (AN: Tomeda is better, but oh well -_-') But why Eli?!" asked a very surprised Sakura.
Eli smiled impishly.
"Must you ask Sakura? I was destined to test you, you know. And why? Well, Clow had to make sure you were worthy enough and powerful enough to control the cards and have them live off of your magic instead of his own. And then again, why not? You were tested to become the Clow Mistress, were you not? It was the same circumstances there as well as now."
(AN: ok, so that might not be the EXACT dialogue, but give me a break! It's been a while since I saw that Card Captors Ep.)


~~~~~~~~~~END OF FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~


Sakura's eyes widened.
"So this was kind of like a...test for her?"
Eli widened his playful grin.
"Right Sakura...you never cease to amaze me."
Sakura blushed a little at that comment. (AN: no ideas please! Eli is not getting together with Sakura and Sakura is not leaving Li for Eli, got it? GOOD!)
As Eli, Sakura and Li continued to talk, Eric glanced over at Misty.
"Good job, Showron. I knew you could pull it off."
Misty blushed a little then looked over at Eric and smiled her dazzling smile. This made Eric blush, too. (AN: it's a blush fest!)
Then, the flying, metallic feline Sparkle flew away from her position with Meilin and Mika over to Eric and Misty.
"He's right you know," said Sparkle, who had flown up just in time to hear what Eric had said.
"You did an awesome job, Misty, and you didn't even need my help! And I'm the guardian! But I guess I'll be able to help you capture the rest of the Star Cards and- -"
"WHAT?! You mean I have to keep doing this??"
Sparkle was a little blown away by the sudden out burst but regained her composer and flew to Misty to land on her shoulder.
"Well, yes. But you don't have to worry about it, Misty. You've got plenty of help."
A confused look crossed her face.
"Besides you, mom and dad, who else do I have?"
Sparkle smiled, as well as a cat can smile.
"Well, for one, you've got Eric here; you two make a pretty good team."
Both teens blushed at this comment as Sparkle continued.
"Then there's Eli, which will be a huge help, then Yue, Kero, Meilin and even your Uncle Tori."
Misty looked questioningly at the glittery feline.
"Uncle Tori? But he doesn't have magic."
"Well, he used to have it, therefore he could help you manage it...and help you understand all of this magic stuff, if no one else can explain it."
Misty smiled to herself then looked at her mother and father who were arguing with Eli about this `Final Transformation' thing. She just sighed (^-^') and shook her head.
"Hey...uh, Misty? Is that you?"
Misty turned and came face to face with a blonde teenage girl that had stunning silvery eyes.
"LESLIE?"
The blonde girl backed up when she heard her name.
"Hmm, I guess that is you, huh?"
Misty cringed when she looked her friend over: her usually neat, blonde hair was frizzy and sticking out in all directions. Her silvery eyes were red and bloodshot. She looked really tired.
"Leslie! Are you all right?" she cried running to the aid of her found friend.
"What? Oh yeah I guess I'm ok, I'm just a little *yawn* tired that's all...have you seen Terri anywhere?"
Misty frowned slightly.
"No Leslie, I haven't; I was hoping she'd be with - -"
"Oh, there you guys are, I've been looking everywhere for you...who's the guy?"
Everyone looked over in Eric's direction, which made him a tad nervous...and when he's nervous (you guessed it) he blushes.
"Oh, that's Eric." Misty stated simply.
Leslie and Terri smiled mischievously at each other and then back at Misty.
"So is he your boyfriend, Mist? Or do you just have a crush on him?" asked Terri, playfully.
Misty sweat-dropped (-_-')
"No, no! It's not like either of those, he's just a friend ok!"
The two girls giggled.
"OK, I think I'll wait 'til tomorrow to tease you, right now, I'm exhausted; could you walk us home Misty?" asked Leslie as she yawned and rubbed her weary, chrome-colored eyes.
Misty smiled.
"Sure, but how about I get my Mom and Dad to drive us, okay?"
"Sounds good to me," the girls said in unison as Misty walked away, following Eric.
"Hey Eric," said Misty, gently tapping his arm.
Eric turned and faced her.
"Yeah?"
"T-Thank you," she said, nervously.
Eric blushed.
"For what? I should be thanking you."
Misty smiled a little as she moved her gaze to her shoes.
"Thank you for helping me out. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have even gotten the first card."
Eric turned more crimson at this statement, just as Misty moved closer and gave him a hug. (AN: ^^' sorry, I couldn't resist!)
Eric suddenly became ridged and turned so red steam could have some out of his ears.
Misty quickly released her grip on him and strolled past him to Sakura and Li, as Leslie and Terri giggled happily at Eric's red face.
Soon after everyone had gotten reacquainted and set straight, the group of buds decided that it was time for them to part ways...that is, for now. ^^'