Cardcaptors: A Bold New Realm
Fanfic by Ryan Edgerton, creator of Team Revelation: The Saga
Disclaimer- I don't own Sakura, Li, or any of the other characters from
the original Cardcaptors TV anime. I'll make a list of the characters I
do own at the end of the fic.
Chapter 1- A Higher Power
Sakura raced downtown, Tomoyo and Li at her sides as per usual. By the
look of things and the weird feeling Li had been getting all day, a new
Card had shown up. The sky over their heads was dark as velvet, the
clouds rolling and crashing together over their heads like violent waves.
It was almost like when Sakura had captured The Storm, one of her first
Clow Cards, only worse. Not that that said much; she still had a good
number of the Clow Cards left to be captured and contained, and trying to
guess which one this might be only made her worry more. Her staff in her
hand, she and her friends were headed into the center of town, where this
crazy weather was the strongest. Lightning flashed, once off in the
distance, then suddenly so close Sakura could almost feel the hairs on
her skin stick straight up and stiffen with fear.
"This doesn't look good." Li stated needlessly. "If it's one of the
Cards causing this weather, I can only begin to guess at the power it
might have."
"Whatever it is, you can beat it, right Sakura?" Tomoyo asked, a little
nervous herself.
"I'll do my best." Sakura replied, felling just a tad bit unsure of
herself.
Not far away, another figure traveled likewise towards the center of the
disturbance. His face was hidden beneath a concealing silver cloak, only
small strands of his chestnut brown hair poking out of the hood. He moved
like a lightning bolt would if given human form; one minute he was here
or there, the next he was almost 100 feet away, jumping from rooftop to
rooftop. He moved so fast he could barely be seen; no, there was no way
that kind of speed could be naturally obtained. This individual held a
power not normally conceived in humankind, a power of extraconspirital
origins. Around his neck hung a large silver cross, dangling by a black
cord and occasionally bouncing up against the black jumpsuit he wore
beneath his hood and cape. His hands were gloved, and his feet bore slick
black running boots that flowed as one piece with the black jumpsuit. He
too had felt the disturbance before even seeing it, much like Li had, but
he knew this feeling and he knew what, or perhaps who, it was who was
behind this attack. He had fought creatures such as this a good many
times, but rarely if ever had they dared challenge him in this realm,
putting innocent lives on the line. They would be stopped, they would be
punished for this. He swore it on the Name of everything holy.
"What is it!!?" Sakura shouted in surprise. In front of them, at the
center of the storm, was what looked like a giant black pillar of smoke
almost too thick to see through. The wind seemed, in some inexplicable
way, to scream with a thousand voices from the center of the whirlwind.
Voices that were felt, not heard. The tornado of evil erupted forth with
huge lightning bolts the color of sandstone dyed purple, blowing away
huge chunks of sidewalk and buildings nearby. The sky above their heads
was now pitch black, and not even the lightning bolts seemed to provide
any illumination despite their impossible size and obvious power. The
storm was so fearful Tomoyo didn't even dare lift her video camera she
was so frozen by fear. "How am I supposed to fight that?!!" Sakura
exclaimed.
"Transform it into it's real form, Sakura!" Li shouted over the winds.
He drew his sword. "I'll try to keep it at bay while you get ready to
fight!"
The funnel of darkness suddenly spat a massive surge of electricity at
the small trio, almost as if responding to their battle strategy. Tomoyo
ran for her life as soon as she saw it and was lucky enough to escape
nearly uninjured, but Sakura and Li were obviously the storm's real
targets. Li reacted, pushing Sakura out of the way of the deadly thunder.
The two of them toppled one over the other from the force of the
explosion just behind them, their bodies sent flying like rag dolls. When
they finally came to a stop, Li's cape had a huge burn in it and his hat
was knocked off, Sakura's wand was a good number of feet away and she had
a tear down her leg that bled severely.
"Sakura!" Tomoyo screamed in shock. She rushed over to her injured
friends, dropping her camera in her rush.
The storm almost smiled in evil delight. One more quick blast of energy
and these three lives would be claimed. How foolish these children were,
to believe they could challenge such power! The storm knew it was useless
for them to fight it. The people of this realm stood no such chance as
those of the storm's native universe. In it's mind it could still hear
the battle cry of those mighty warriors, the servants of Jeshua who had
first cast them down into these realms of physical existence. How weak
these creatures were, how helpless. Any living creature with a heart
would have pitied the human children, so outmatched and out of their
league, about to be destroyed by a force they could not so much as see.
If the storm had a heart it would have considered these young ones
defeated, letting them live. But the storm didn't have a heart, or a soul
for that matter. No, these ones would not be spared. The storm was
wallowing, feeding on their pain and agony, almost seeming to drink the
blood of the one child as she lay there bleeding by the pint through her
leg. But soon, it knew it would have to finish them off so it could
secure them as it's own spoil, then go off to find other lives to steal,
kill, and destroy. Such was the way of this storm.
Still, it suddenly heard the battle cry of Jeshua's forces louder, more
clearly in it's mind. Something about it suddenly seemed more real,...
more present,... like the warriors were here... but it knew that couldn't
be. The enemy was at bay, having been engaged by others like the storm
itself, allowing the storm to rain destruction unopposed. Suddenly, it
began to fear. Had the warriors broken through the blockade? Had Jeshua
Himself interceded? Or,... what if the Remnant was at work here.
'We must destroy the children quickly, or else we risk losing our
spoil!' The storm said amongst itself. It quickly charged up it's energy
for a second attack, one that would obliterate these children from the
face of this wretched planet. It would no longer delay, else the enemy
come upon it and defeat them, sending this powerful storm hurtling into
the Abyss from whence it came.
Suddenly, not too far away, the storm heard the battle cry. A ram's horn
instrument, a shofar, sounded in the midst of the storm, piercing the
roaring winds like a sword. The storm turned,-
-And saw it's opponent.
The storm knew this one all too well. He was mighty, given power by
Jeshua Himself. This son of Adam was amongst the warrior ranks of the
Host, and the storm knew he would likely fight ferociously, to say the
least. Gabor of the Remnant.
Sakura almost felt like she was dying. Every member in her body knew it
was fighting an uphill battle to survive. Li stood over her, carefully
bandaging her wound with what remained of his cape. Tomoyo stood next to
her, clutching her hand and telling her she was going to be alright. But
Sakura didn't feel like she was going to be alright. Her vision was
blurred, she was lightheaded in way that a person could only feel when
they're losing blood like crazy, and she wasn't sure if she could still
move her left arm or not. She halfway felt like she was an observer,
watching all of this happen but not actually being able to do anything,
like watching a movie or something. She couldn't hang on, and she knew
it. If she didn't bleed to death, that storm would surely get her,
probably Li, Tomoyo, and so many other people, too. Why hadn't it
attacked again yet? It could have destroyed them twice by now, and yet it
had simply stood there, seeming to get larger and more powerful.
Sakura soon heard her answer.
A deep, reverberating sound, like some ancient instrument rang out
throughout the area. She wanted to turn and see what it was that had made
such a sound, but she didn't have the energy to, like as if her body was
frozen in place. But Li and Tomoyo saw.
The figure in the silver cloak sounded off a blast like a trumpet,
blowing into a ram's horn that spiraled like it had been wrapped around a
cone. The sound was loud, like the rallying cry for an army in ancient
Israel, and somehow... Sakura couldn't understand why,... but it seemed
to give her hope, renew her energy and inspire her to keep fighting
against the prevalent death.
"Who in the world...!" Li's voice trailed off as he starred in amazement
at the bold figure. The silver cloak whipped in the wind, finely
decorated and stitched together with both black and white thread, as well
as gold. He wore a cross around his neck, it's size and the length of the
cord it was strung to making it look like an amulet of sorts. He was
tall, Sakura guessed he must be at least fifteen, and even at this
distance he seemed to give off an aura of light that was both seen and
unseen, like a ghost. He lowered the ram's horn and it instantly
vanished, replaced with a small white Card. Sakura couldn't see the Card
well at this distance, but she guessed it was like no Card she's ever
seen. The mysterious figure placed the Card into his pocket, then turned
to glare into the storm.
"You've got a lot of nerve, minion, coming here bent on destroying
lives. I know all about your mission and I am here to stop you and your
evil plans." He pulled the cross necklace off of his neck and held it
high in the air. It suddenly began to glow and change, expanding like a
living thing. When the light faded, a beautiful and ornately designed
sword was held in it's place, and the figure pointed it straight into the
storm. "You have met your match, demons! Yield and withdraw or suffer the
consequences!"
The voices of the storm winds grew louder, their meaning indecipherable
to Sakura. Apparently, though, the warrior in the silver cloak understood
the voices. He raised his sword in a battle stance.
"So be it. You have caused destruction in my Father's kingdom and now
you will pay, hell spawn! I bind you, by the name of the Lord of Hosts!
The illusion is shattered; reveal your true form!"
A blinding light shot forward from the sword, striking the storm
dead-center. It spread, like electricity, throughout the entire storm as
the voices of it screamed out; in pain or terror Sakura didn't know, but
the sound of it was horrifying. When the light cleared, flying in mid-air
where the storm had been was a massive swarm of black shadows, all
bearing wings like a bat and tails like scorpions. Tomoyo screamed and Li
froze in fear. The creatures didn't seem any more physical than Sakura's
Shadow beast did, maybe less so. They screamed in blinding rage, tearing
through the skies at the silver warrior who had come to their aid with
murderous fury guiding them. Some had swords, axes, daggers, staffs,
maces, and other weapons, all made of the same stuff as themselves. Their
wings beat at blurring speeds as they closed in on their enemy, who stood
there, sword battle-ready. The monsters' red eyes glowed like fireballs
as they descended on their foe like a flock of mutant ravens.