Cardcaptor Sakura Stopped the World

Encroaching Storm

The Li mansion was far in the countryside; past sweeping hills and farms, far from the outskirts of Hong Kong. If Sakura didn’t know any better, she would have thought that they weren’t in China at all. The wrought iron gates in front of them were tall; almost too tall, a pillar of hedge on either side of the road which they arrived by.

That morning Sakura had explained to Tomoyo and Kero the happenings of the night before and explained the conversation she had had with Mistress Li. They were happy to accompany her to the mansion, as long as they were kept in the conversation; they had every right to know what it was that was happening in Hong Kong and Sakura couldn’t refuse.

Sakura took a deep breath before pressing the small button at the side of the gate, mentally preparing herself for what she knew would soon follow.

“Who is it?” A perky voice asked.

“Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero, we are here to see Mistress Li.” Sakura swept an uneasy glance through the gate towards the mansion and braced herself for the onslaught.

As if on cue, four familiar; yet annoying; figures appear on the other side of the gate, their shrieks becoming louder until all at once, they pile on top of the two girls, the squealing almost deafening.

“Oh my gosh! You have grown so much since we last saw you!” The eldest, Fuutie exclaimed as she spun Sakura in all directions, ruffling her hair, tugging on her clothes, examining every inch of her.

“Can’t you just not be embarrassing for one second? Come on, you are annoying our guests.” A voice shouted towards them. Immediately the four women peeled themselves away from Sakura and Tomoyo and ran back through the gates and towards the house muttering complaints that were, no doubt, aimed at Shoran. Sakura looked up and was surprised to see him hobbling towards them, a crutch below his arm, and a sweater over his shoulders. Despite the small sheen of sweat that was visible under the fringe on his forehead he was smiling, an annoyed look on his face.

“You would think that four grown women with families of their own would have the decency to act their age,” He sighed “but of course, I don’t have that luxury even if I am the head of the company.”

Sakura stifled a laugh and shrugged, she’s seen them worse than that before and could only imagine how hard it had been for them now that the, no funny business, Shaoran was in charge.

“Come on,” Shaoran flicked his head towards the mansion “my mom is waiting.”

They followed Shaoran; Kero picking a fight every chance he could; down the drive and up the stairs to the front door, which had been left open, probably in the haste of Shaoran’s four sisters and they stepped over the threshold into the foyer.

The mansion was even bigger than Sakura remembered, the large sweeping staircase was almost twice as big as she remembered from her last trip to Hong Kong and the foyer in which they were standing seemed more than three times the appearance of the outside.

They continued to follow Shaoran up the stairs and down the hallway before they found themselves in Yelan’s study.

The room was large, but that came as no surprise; all the furnishings in the room were obviously antiques, the two large sofas in the middle of the room as well as the heirlooms and swords that lined the walls. At the far end of the room stood the tall figure Sakura knew to be Shaoran mother, Yelan Li; the woman from the night before.

“Welcome, Cardcaptor and friends. Please,” she waved her hand at the sofas in front of them “take a seat.”

Sakura nodded her head and she and Tomoyo took a seat on one couch while Shaoran collapsed onto the other, Kero content with the table and the foot that sat on it. Within seconds Yelan took her seat next to Shaoran and tea was brought into the room.

“How is your family Ms. Kinomoto?”

Sakura nodded awkwardly, she had hoped they had already gotten past the pleasantries and that the matter at hand would have been more important but she still replied, “Very well, thank you.”

“I assume that you have had the chance to survey the city?” She swept her hand towards the balcony, the city was easily visible as well as the dark clouds that loomed overhead.

“Yes, but I cannot say I know what it is that is forming. The clouds don’t look very magical so it couldn’t be the clouds themselves.” She mussed aloud, her eyes never leaving the city.

“I agree, the magic doesn’t indeed come from the clouds but instead it seems to sit stagnant in the air.” She nodded her head and turned her gaze away from the city and towards Yelan.

“What, do you suppose, could be the source if it’s not the clouds?” Sakura asked.

Mrs. Li gave her a disbelieving look and then turned to scowl at Shaoran. Shaoran nodded apologetically towards them and then glared back at his mom, a cold war forming between the two. Sakura watched the silent war for only a few moments before interjecting,

“Look, I know that this is your city and that it is important to you but I honestly don’t have the faintest idea of what could be happening here. I spent all of this morning testing the clouds, the air, the people themselves but all I could come up with was that the magic was just, there.  There isn’t a source, or even a reason why it should be present but still, it is here and we have to find a way to get rid of it before more disturbances happen.”

The silence that followed was stifling; Shaoran’s eyes were downcast, his eyebrows knit together; Yelan stared out the window, expressionless. Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. Their attention was back on her.

“I don’t know what you’ve tried, or how things have happened before I got here but as far as I can tell, the only thing we can do is wait until something happens.”

“You mean wait until people are hurt?” Yelan asked affronted. Sakura shook her head.

“As we can surmise from Shaoran’s injury and your daughter’s obvious depletion of magic,” Yelan shot her a look that she had never seen cross her face before, shock.

“What do you mean my daughter’s obvious depletion of magic? I haven’t sent them to deal with it, their magic is nothing compared to Shaoran’s.” Sakura stared at her for a moment, taken aback before continuing. “Well it is only targeting people with magic. No one but us is going to get hurt.” She stopped for a moment then asked, “What do you mean? It’s obvious they all have quite a substantial less amount of magic than they’ve had before. How else would they have lost so much magic?”

Shaoran looked from his mother to Sakura then to the door.

“What if just being in the city took away our magic?” Tomoyo shook her head,

“If that were so Sakura’s magic would have depleted and so would yours.” Sakura nodded

“I agree. We need to be in the city; we need to know exactly when it’s going to strike or we won’t be able to figure anything out here, we are too far away.”

A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance and all eyes went to the window and the view of the city. A jolt of lightning shone in the distance followed by two more.

Sakura jumped to her feet and ran towards the open doors, the rest of them following. Before Sakura had the key out from around her neck, searing pain lanced through her head and she collapsed to the ground clutching her face.

“Sakura!” Tomoyo shouted, kneeling on the ground next to her, Shaoran and Yelan following suit. Kero flew from his spot on the table and placed a hand on Sakura’s head as she shrieked in pain, he glowed a faint yellow color and closed his eyes in concentration.

Shaoran shouted her name again and again, hoping for a response but none came. Her still body began twitching and shaking and he shouted louder, slipping what little amount of magic he had left after his injury into her body, helping her in any way he could.

Sakura’s body shook violently and she gasped in pain frequently, her hands still clasped on the sides of her face. She saw glimpses of her past, and the present and then finally a glimpse of an older version of herself before the shouts from her friends got quieter and quieter until everything went black.