"Today's the day! Today's the day!"
Next time, Sakura and Li decide to hatch plans of their own to thank Madison and Meilin for all the help they've lent during the quests in the past and the one currently in progress. They decide to invite Eriol, Nakuru, Suppi, and Dominic to come to Tokyo to spend a week.
"Just like a CardCaptor Gang reunion."
The weekend approaches, and the entire gang decides to go to the festival at the shrine. There, Sakura and Li put their plan into final motion, but Li decides to reveal his own plan as well.
"Listen Sakura, there's something I have to tell you. Something I've been trying to tell you for quite a while now . . ."
Before he is able to reveal his emotions however, the Glow Gem makes an unexpected appearance, and reveals her wish to both of them.
“I want friends and I want to make people happy. I have no desire to hurt or destroy.”
After choosing Li, he sealed her and thus he claimed the strange Glow Gem. As the gang watched the fireworks later on, Eriol made his confession and the two sealed it with a kiss. However, Sakura decided to seek revenge by taping the scene.
“GIVE ME THAT VIDEO SAKURA, RIGHT NOW!”
Now that Eriol and Madison have gotten together, will Sakura and Li soon follow in their footsteps?
“I must be . . .running out of time.”
And what did Aquilia mean by running out of time?
“Am I back to . . .the dream?”
Many bolts of lightning crashed down from the sky as Ceaira found herself standing atop the roof of the shrines once again, being pounded by a great quantity of rain from the black clouds above. As the light from the storm flashed all around her, she looked around the shrine area at the various rooftops, then up toward the sky as she gripped her crossbow in her right hand. “The storm seems to be intensifying . . .huh?” Her eyes suddenly shifted toward the roof across from her, causing the rest of her body to turn. When she stopped, she gasped as she once again saw the dragon winged being holding a trident in the left hand. The two faced off, staring hard at each other for a long period of time. Ceaira’s purple eyes narrowed as she glared at the shadow, another bolt of lighting crashing down from the sky. “Who are you!?”
Just then, another bolt of lightning down, and Ceaira gasped and stepped backwards as she could see the shadow’s green eyes glaring at her. It then crouched down and leaped into the air, unfolding its massive dragon wings. Ceaira lifted her crossbow quickly and fired three shots of her magic, but the creature managed to maneuver away from them easily. Suddenly, a large burst of energy exploded between them as it waved a hand, causing seven yellow ropes to shoot down and ensnare Ceaira. She gasped, but then found herself being lifted off of the ground and into the air. The creature kept its grip strong in one hand, but then suddenly caused a surge of lightning energy to engulf the other hand. It then shot the energy downward, causing Ceaira to scream as she became electrified.
“Ceaira! Please wake up!” Aquilia released her tears as she pulled Ceaira’s pillow out from under her head, causing the GemCaptor to be startled by the sudden loss of altitude. Waking up, she looked around then wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. “Huh?” “Ceaira! You scared me so much!” Ceaira looked toward her feathered friend, who started to cry more as she flew down and wrapped her wings around Ceaira’s neck. “That scream you let out a few minutes ago scared me so much! What was going on?” “It was that dream again . . .with the dragon creature.” “This is getting serious. You’ve been having that dream since before you opened the Kayo Chest, haven’t you?” “Yeah . . .this time the creature trapped me with it’s ropes and shocked me with it’s lightning power.” “Lightning power? Odd . . .the only creature I know of with lightning powers is Thunder, and you already captured that one.” “It’s weird . . .but the creature didn’t look like Thunder anyway.”
Pondering, Ceaira frowned and reached over to pick up her alarm clock. Letting out a loud yawn, she rubbed her eyes and looked at the time, then suddenly screamed as she threw the clock to the side and jumped out of bed. “OH NO! I’M GOING TO BE LATE!” Out of total panic, Ceaira ran into the closet and closed it shut, then began changing into her uniform. Aquilia simply sighed and flew over to the window to see it snowing. “Well I would have woken you up sooner, but you were lost in your dreams again.” “You think I wanted to dream about myself getting electrocuted?!”
Ceaira then opened the closet, running a brush through her hair as she stood in front of the full length mirror wearing her winter uniform. “It times like this I wish I was just a normal seventeen year old teenager!” “Either way you’d be late for school, and it’s snowing so wear your coat.” “What? And spring is supposed to come next week. It’s sure not going to feel like it with all the snow we’ve been getting lately. The cherry blossoms must be struggling greatly.” “They are, but they are like Sakura you know. Both are strong and can overcome any obstacle.” “You know what, you’re right.” Turning to Aquilia, Ceaira smiled as she put the brush back on her desk. She then grabbed her case and looked at her watch as she put it on her wrist. “AHHH! Now I’m defiantly going to be late! Tell dad I’ll eat a big lunch because I don’t have time for breakfast! BYE!”
With that, Ceaira ran out of her room in a blur and down the stairs. Aquilia giggled, then looked outside and watched the snow fall. She sighed to herself, then looked down at the ground to see Ceaira running down the walkway, struggling to pull her jacket on. The bird giggled once again as she watched her run off toward school. “For a girl who can keep track of gems, what kinds of power’s she senses, plus her own special magical powers, Ceaira can’t keep track of mornings.” She smiled, but suddenly started coughing uncontrollably. Once she finally stopped, her eyes showed weakness as she swayed back and forth. “It’s getting worse . . .”
Tossing her soaked jacket into the locker. Ceaira put a hand against the next locker and leaned forward, attempting to catch her breath. “I have got to be the luckiest magician in the world to make it to school before the first bell . . .” She sighed from frustration, then looked in the mirror quickly and smoothed out her long bangs. She then picked up her case and closed her locker, shaking her head a little which caused some water to splatter the lockers. “Thank god I told the teacher I needed to go to my locker, or else I would have gotten detention!” After straightening out her hair, she smiled and proceeded to walk down the hall toward her classroom. Upon arriving, she walked over to her desk and sat down, then turned to face Kara, Yuuki, and Hope. “Hey everyone.” “Hey Ceaira!” “Sorry I’m late. My alarm once again decided not to work.” “Ceaira, you have GOT to take that thing in to get fixed.” “I know Yuuki, but I still don’t know where the clock store is.” “WHAT?! You’ve lived here for almost half a year and you STILL don’t know where the clock store is?!”
Ceaira sank into her seat and giggled nervously, holding her hands in front of her to hopefully protect herself as Yuuki shot her shocked expression toward her. Kara and Hope couldn’t help but laugh, know that out of the three of them, Ceaira seemed to be the most open with Yuuki because of her personality, especially during Ceaira’s first few days at the high school.
Just then, the four turned their heads as they heard the classroom door closing. Ceaira blinked with curiosity, knowing she recognized the woman who was carrying the lesson plan. “Good morning students. I trust you’re ready for the new semester?” “Oh yeah! That’s Miss Mackenzie!”
Hearing her name, Miss Mackenzie looked over toward the group of four and smiled. She then placed her lesson plan on the podium and walked over to them. “Good day Ceaira. How are things.” “Things are good Miss Mackenzie. I had no idea that you would be our math teacher this semester.” “You mean Sakura never told you?” Ceaira shook her head, then Miss Mackenzie closed her eyes and smiled. She then looked at her watched and turned toward the blackboard. “Oh well, here I am. Any way, I better start the lesson.” “All right.”
Ceaira nodded, then grabbed her books and placed them on the desk. Miss Mackenzie opened her lesson plan, then began writing the year’s criteria on the blackboard. “Good morning students, and welcome to the second semester. Some of you might know me from volley-ball, but for those who do not, my name is Miss Mackenzie. This year I hope to be able to teach trig, geometry, algebra, statistics, exponents, and a few other topics. Tests are announced a week in advance, and I will never throw a surprise quiz.”
Before she was able to continue with her criteria, there was suddenly a knock at the door. Miss Mackenzie looked up with curiosity, then walked over to the door and left the room. Ceaira was curious about it as she finished copying the notes from the blackboard, then became even more curious as Miss Mackenzie returned with two students following close behind. “Everyone, it appears we have two new exchange students to go along with the new semester. Please say hello to Marietta and Anastasia Gonzales.”
There was then a great deal of hello’s, waves, and a couple of cat calls from the guys in the back rows as the two girls stood at the front of the room. Marietta blushed and giggled, placing a hand to her cheek and her other arm behind her back. She had dirty blond hair tied into two ponytails on both sides of her head, which stopped below her shoulders. She as well had bright blue eyes. Anastasia simply crossed her arms and frowned as she leaned against the blackboard, not letting herself look at anyone else in the class. She had black hair down to her waist, and dark blue eyes. Miss Mackenzie placed her chalk down on the podium, then turned to the two sisters. “So why not tell us about yourselves? Marietta, why don’t you go first?” “Okay! Umm, well we’re both from Madrid, which is in Spain. I speak English, Spanish and Japanese, but I’m not really that good at French. My favorite sports are basketball, soccer, volley-ball . . .come to think about it, I like all sports! Isn’t that right Annie?”
Letting out a growl, Anastasia stood up straight from her position, then lifted her head and glared at Marietta while having her fists clenched. “Okay Marietta, for starters do not call me Annie in front of all these strangers. Second, I don’t care about your sports preferences. And third, I didn’t even want to come here in the first place. Our home is in Madrid, not this strange city.” “Woah! Chill out sis!” “And drop the slang usage, it’s so immature Marietta. What would mother say?” “I don’t care what mom thinks. Our family’s economy status will never reflect my personality Anastasia!”
With that, Anastasia snorted in annoyance and walked to an empty seat near the door. Marietta stuttered in attempting to get through to her sister, but finally gave up and walked over to the empty desk beside Ceaira. Miss Mackenzie blinked, but then brushed it aside as she reached for the chalkboard. “Well, I guess that’s that then. Marietta, if you have any questions you may ask Ceaira, and if Anastasia has any you can ask her as well.” “I don’t need help . . .I’ll be fine on my own.” “Give it a rest, ANNIE!” “Shut up Marietta!” As the two continued to argue, Miss Mackenzie simply stared at Anastasia with an expression of slight suspicion. Ceaira simply laughed nervously, wondering exactly how she was going to survive the day if they continued to argue.
“Hey Aquilia! Let us in!” As he floated in front of the window, Kero tapped on it lightly as Suppi floated beside him. The little cat crossed his arms and smiled as he looked inside the house. “It will be wonderful to see Aquilia again. It’s been such a long time for me.” “I’ll say this, the only thing that’s changed about her is she’s now obsessed with cupcakes.” “What is with you two and sweets? Just give me good old vegetables any day.” “Oh? I’m not the one who goes on a drunken sugar every time I consume the stuff.”
As Kero laughed, Suppi narrowed his eyes and glared in annoyance with his friend. After a few moments, both guardian beasts smiled as Aquilia appeared and opened the window. Later on after Misuteri gave them some snacks and tea, they all sat on the end of Ceaira’s bed and conversed. “It is good to see you again Aquilia.” “Likewise, Spinel Sun.”
Aquilia gave a small smile, closing her eyes as she took a sip of her tea. Kero frowned, for he had noticed Aquilia’s condition. Her feathers were not their beautiful shade of sapphire blue, but a much faded version. As well, they were worn away and had many holes like a torn rag, and her eyes were seemingly glazed over, with the red in them quite faded as well. She suddenly covered her beak with her left wing as she coughed loudly and multiple times, which worried Kero greatly. He flew over and sat down beside her, rubbing her back with his paw to calm her down. “Are you all right Aquilia?” “I don’t know. I’ve been this way for a few days since the night of the Festival the others went to. I’ve been coughing and feeling weak, plus my feathers feel dry and occasionally fall off of me.” “Poor thing.”
Suppi frowned, then flew over and hugged the small bird gently. She smiled, then coughed again before taking a small bite out of her cupcake. “I just hope this is a simple cold and that it will vanish soon.” “Let’s all hope so. For your sake, as well as Ceaira’s and for the quest.” Kero nodded, seemingly agreeing with Suppi, but in reality he knew that whatever Aquilia was experiencing was much worse than a common cold.
Back at the school, the cold weather outside prevented anyone from having their lunch in the courtyard. Ceaira, Yuuki, Kara, and Hope all decided that they would head over to the local coffee shop for hot chocolate’s and whatever was packed for them that day. As usual, Yuuki asked the pending question. “So what did everyone get for lunch? Kara?” “I got a eggplant sandwich. How about you Hope?” “Chocolate cake and a slice of pizza.” “I have macaroni salad.” “Yuck! Poor Ceaira.” “What? It’s actually not that bad . . .if you add enough spice anyway.” “Hey you four!”
Just then, the four heard the voice which called out from the door of the little shop. They then saw Marietta walking over to them, dragging a reluctant Anastasia behind her. Ceaira raised an eyebrow at the two sisters as they arrived and sat down at the same table with them “Hi everyone!” “Hi Marietta, Anastasia.” “Hi! Is it okay if we sit here?” “Sure!”
Marietta smiled, then got out some money for her lunch. Just as she was about to get up, Anastasia reached over and snatched the cash away, frowning with her eyes closed. “I’ll go get lunch, you make your pathetic little small talk.” Standing up from the table, the black haired student then left and headed for the counter to place an order. Marietta let out a frustrated sigh, then turned back to the rest of the gang. “Sorry about that. Anastasia hates anything involving a social life it seems. She always acted that way back home.” “So it isn’t the new kid syndrom.” “Hey! I never acted like that!” “Not everyone suffers it Ceaira!”
Letting out a laugh, Marietta, Kara, and Hope all seemed amused at the newest squabble between Yuuki and Ceaira. As Anastasia returned, she practically dropped Marietta’s food in front of her, before sitting down with her lunch. Everyone looked toward Anastasia oddly, causing her to look up from her french fries and glaring. “Take a picture why don’t you? It’ll last longer . . .”
Hearing her comment, Marietta let out an annoyed growl as she leaned over and tapped on her sister’s shoulder. Turning toward her twin sister, Anastasia let out a groan of frustration as she narrowed her eyes at her. “Why are you always so rude Annie?!” “Don’t call me Annie! And why don’t you just go and get a life Marietta.” “Get a personality!” “Make me!”
As the two continued to argue, the other four started to laugh nervously as they picked up their lunches, then quickly headed over to the trash bin where they tossed them in. They then left the coffee shop, only to look back and see that the two sisters were still arguing. “Man, those two are worse than cats.” “Definitely.”
As the girls walked away from the coffee shop, Ceaira was unaware that she was being watched. Standing on a strong back within one of the taller trees nearby, was a woman wearing a pale blue cloak and hood. None of her physical features could be seen except for the lower section of her face, and a gloved hand which held a rapier style sword. As Ceaira disappeared from sight, the woman allowed a sly smile to appear on her face as she lifted the sword to hold it in front of her. “Soon GemCaptor . . .very soon . . .we will meet. And when that time comes, I will test my skills against you to see if you have the heart of a true Gemcaptor . . .”
As the day slowly went by, Ceaira almost found it boring as always. However, she and the other were still amused slightly by the constant whispering of Marietta and Anastasia. After school, moments after the final bell rang, the brown and blond haired teenager let out a sigh of relief as she pulled her now dry coat from out of the locker. She had stayed after class for ten minutes to discuss an upcoming project she had an idea for, so the hallway was completely empty except for her presence. “Well, better get home so Aquilia doesn’t get cranky about her snack.” Ceaira nodded to herself as she giggled, thinking about how the little bird’s hunger seemed to rival that of a certain yellow lion.
Suddenly, a surge of energy triggered Ceaira’s senses after she pulled on her jacket, causing her to drop her books and freeze on the spot. She stared down the empty hall for only a few moments before shaking her head and narrowing her eyes. “A Kayo Gem . . .”
Ceaira grabbed her pendant and held it in front of her. She then placed her hands together to conceal the pendant from view. She then closed her eyes and began her incantation. “Lock of Kayo . . .Key of Syona . . .forces of good . . .surrender the bow . . .surrender the might . . .so I may fight!” A blue light appeared, causing her to open her eyes. She pulled her hands apart and the blue arrow rose upward. It then became engulfed in a sphere of light blue energy. Streams of the same energy appeared then flowed into the pendant, which then began to morph. Ceaira then leaped up and stopped in front of the finished product of the metamorphosis; her crossbow. She grabbed it then fell back toward the ground.
Landing in a kneeling position, the teenager glanced around as she slowly rose to her feet, keeping her weapon loaded with her magical arrows in case it was a powerful Kayo Gem. Just then, she heard footsteps being created from what sounded like to be a heeled shoe of some sort. Quickly figuring out the direction of the sound, Ceaira quickly turned on her heel and aimed her crossbow’s line of fire down the hall. “Whoever’s there, show yourself!”
As if on cue, a shadows figure appeared down the hall as it continued to walk toward her. Ceaira’s finger began to twitch slightly for the energy she was sensing became stronger and stronger. Whoever was approaching her, was the Kayo Gem she had just sensed before. As the shadows disappeared, a woman resembling an elf appeared, showing a calm face toward the GemCaptor. Her hair was light blue and her skin was pale, which was only lightened more by her white suit of armor and silver cape. Her eyes were solid blue with no pupil, and around her waist was a belt which held a sheathed sword. On her forehead where her bangs parted, was a black star symbol. “I am the Light Gem. I wish not to destroy you ruthlessly like my fallen brothers and sisters have attempted to already to.”
Lowering her crossbow slightly, Ceaira’s eyes narrowed slightly as she attempted to comprehend the words of the Light Gem. She couldn’t figure out why some of the gems wanted to kill he, while others simply wanted to conflict. “Okay then, what do you want? Since you’ve approached me, that means you probably don’t want the freedom you currently have.” “That is not true. I said I wish not to ruthlessly kill you. I will not resort to vicious and blind manouevre’s. However I do desire a permanent freedom, leading me to this current confrontation. Gemcaptor, I simply wish to offer the challenge of an honorable battle. Sword to sword combat. Winner decides the fate of the defeated.”
Letting out a shocked gasp, Ceaira could not believe what was just proposed. She never new the Kayo Gems could possess a sense of honor, but then she reminded herself not to underestimate the power of her ancestor’s magic which created the renegade talismans. She suddenly wished that she had the Sword Gem in her possession, but she knew that improvision would have to be her alternate course of action. Lifting her gaze to look into the eyes of the Light Gem, she nodded, but suddenly frowned. “I would like to accept your challenge, but I don’t have a sword in which to battle with. I have yet to capture the Sword Gem, and my comrades, Sakura Avalon and Li Showron, are not here to lend me a sword of their own. How can I fight you?” “It is very simple. If you do not have Sword, then find an alternate solution. I suggest possibly using the Create Gem to create a sword for yourself.”
Ceaira smiled, although a little suspicious to why the Light Gem was helping her if she too wanted the Gemcaptor dead though a more honorable demise. However, she nodded in agreement with the idea, lifting her crossbow and holding out in front of he vertically as the slot opened. A gem fell out and landed in her free hand, allowing both fighters to feel pleased.
She gripped a gem in her left hand, to reveal it’s image to be a writing quill on a pad of paper. She then lowered the arm to the ground, then lifted it quickly as she tossed the gem above her head. She then held out her crossbow and left arm out in front of her and went into a spin as a sparkling dark green energy surrounded her. “Create Gem . . .I command you to create a sword suitable to battle the Light Gem!” She then pointed the crossbow up to the sky and held out her left arm to the side and quickly opened her eyes to see the gem reaching it’s vertical peak. “Create Gem! Shatter and dispel!” She pulled the trigger of the crossbow and a arrow flew up, followed by all the energy which surrounded her before. They both collided with the front of the gem, causing it to shatter into a sparkling dark green light.
The energy returned to swirl around her free hand, creating a finely crafted raiper like sword. Ceaira smiled at the power of the Create Gem, kneeling down to place her crossbow on a hook attached to her jacket while keeping an eye on the patient Light Gem. She then gripped the new sword with both hands, hoping she could use it properly as unlike the Sword Gem, she was not granted the knowledge of knowing how to use her new weapon perfectly. However, she placed one leg forward and held out the blade to her left side as she narrowed her eyes to her opponent. “I am ready.” “That is good. So Gemcaptor, let the battle begin.”
Giving a nod to agree with the opponent, the battle went underway with an immediate charging strike from the Light Gem’s true form. Ceaira gasped as the sword was swung at her, causing her reflexes to kick in as she quickly raised her sword to block. The metals clashed and locked, becoming a struggle to overpower the other as they gritted their teeth. Ceaira then brought her sword upward to break the lock, jumping back and pointing the tip of the blade to the Light Gem. She remained slightly off guard for only a moment before she swung her sword toward the Gemcaptor, releasing a wave of light energy which sped across the floor. Ceaira gasped, then jumped to the side to avoid the magic. However, she misjudged her move and slammed into a nearby window, crashing through the glass and letting out a shrill scream as she hit the ground outside of the school. She gripped her left shoulder instantly as she felt the dampness of the cloth caused by a fresh wound from the glass. “I thought you were a Kayo Gem of honor!”
Stepping down from the sill onto the ground, Light’s expression continued to remain constant as she watched Ceaira struggle onto her feet, gripping the shoulder as more blood soaked through the fabrics of both her school uniform and her coat. “Understand this Gemcaptor, it is a combat of swords. This includes any magical energy that is known, but it must come from the blade or it breaks the code of honor. I apologize for not mentioning this.”
Once again confused, Ceaira couldn’t seem to grasp why the Light Gem was offering her combat tips and the rules of the game. She then wondered if the particular gem was telling the truth in that if she did kill the Gemcaptor, it was to be an honorable death from the heat of battle and from some of the dirty tricks inflicted in the past.
Suddenly it all began to make perfect sense, and Ceaira found herself smiling as she instantly tightened her grip on the sword once again to cause an electrical energy to engulf the blade before disappearing just as quickly. “So my misjudgment was not a prediction of my reactions either?” “It was not. I assumed that if you dodged, that it would be a complete jump backwards and not a horizontal one.” “Okay then. Let’s continue the battle. Despite the shoulder I’m not finished yet!”
Closing her eyes, Ceaira managed to put the throbbing pain in her shoulder aside long enough to raise her sword slowly upward until it was above her head. “Ancient powers heed my cry . . .” As she spoke the chant aloud, the electric energy which had previously engulfed the Create Gem sword came to life once more in a bright array of wild surges. “Allow the force to fly! Lightning attack!”
Slashing her sword down to the ground, the huge blast of energy was released and tore across the ground much faster than the previous and similar attack which the Light Gem had created earlier. Just reacting quick enough, Light leapt into the air, but screamed out suddenly when the tip of the lightning blast slashed at her ankle. Falling to the ground, she instantly collapsed onto her knees and gritted her teeth as she gripped the injured part of her leg. Ceaira stood her ground and waited, for she wasn’t sure if a surrender would be declared or if the Light Gem possessed the same degree of stubbornness as the Gemcaptor herself had.
Sure enough, the white knight recovered quickly, climbing onto her feet and suddenly levitating off of the ground slightly before racing forward again. Ceaira clenched her teeth and fists as she held the sword, charging as well toward the persistent opponent. Their blades clashed again, but retracted quickly as an old fashioned sword battle. Both seemed equally matched as they swung and hit the other opponent’s blade time and time again. The battle kept going, appearing as if there was no end in clear sight.
Suddenly, the Light Gem forgot about her injured ankle for a split second, causing her levitation to break. She landed on the ground with more weight accidentally on her injured side, causing the female knight to scream once again. Ceaira was thrown off guard and knew a cheap shot would be to strike at that time, but she found that she couldn’t stop her blade in time. The tip sliced through the right arm of the Light Gem, giving her more to cry out about as she gripped the fresh wound. Falling to the ground, she landed on her back and squinted her eyes shut from the pain. Opening them a moment later, she gasped as she saw Ceaira merely standing in front of her. She was clearly not thinking of making any move to finish off the contender. “What are you waiting for Gemcaptor?! Finish it off and claim your victory!”
Shaking her head, Ceaira frowned as she released her grip on the sword she possessed, causing it to return to the true form of the Kayo Gem before it disappeared into her crossbow. She then leaned forward and held out the hand of her good arm toward the fallen knight. “I clearly took a cheap shot at your sudden distraction. I do not deserve to win.”
The Light Gem gasped, totally unable to comprehend the reasons for Ceaira’s self declaration of no victory. She had never seen such an act portrayed before by any warrior that she contended with in her past. However, she suddenly realized exactly what the Gemcaptor was talking about. Shaking her head, she accepted the offer and grasped Ceaira’s hand. “Gemcaptor, you have won. I just realized it was not a cheap shot. I caught you off guard from my sudden declaration of pain and you could not stop your attack in time. For your honesty though in not simply accepting the win, I would like to announce my surrender and grant you the victory.”
Ceaira’s eyes widened, for she was shocked. A Kayo Gem was giving her victory. But then she suddenly remembered Meilin and the Fight Gem and how the battle that had just conspired was exactly identical to the nature of that previous engagement. Ceaira then nodded, pulling up the gem to her feet. “I shall seal you to your concealed form then. That is my term of victory.” “I accept your terms. You are a true warrior Ceaira Syona, and you are also a very skilled Gemcaptor too. I know the other gems will grant you respect one you find and capture them. I know this for you now have mine.”
Stepping back one pace, the Light Gem placed one hand across her chest plate as she bowed to the victor, allowing Ceaira to smile as she unhooked her crossbow and lifted it to take aim. “Light Gem, return to your power confined!” She then fired the white arrow which instantly burst into the net like energy which engulfed the gem with no means of resistence. However, before disappearing, the Light Gem smiled to Ceaira and waved. “Until I am needed, remain strong willed. You will need it when you face the ultimate test to come.”
Ceaira blinked, watching as the energy decreased in size and changing shape until it was that of a Kayo Gem’s form. It fell to the ground and bounced upward and forward, allowing Ceaira to catch it and study the image on the surface. The Light Gem’s knight form was visible, holding her sword on front of her body with both hands as her eyes remained closed. However, she instantly forgot about the gem as she looked toward the sky. “The ultimate test? What did she mean?”
Arriving home later, Ceaira removed her jacket and placed it into the upcoming wash load of dark clothes in hopes of that she could remove the fresh blood stain from the shoulder section. She then let ut a sigh, looking toward her own shoulder to see the cloth she had wrapped around it to keep it from moving too much out of place. She then walked over to the stairs and leaned against the banister as she looked up the second floor. “Aquilia! It’s snack time and I have to tell you what happened before I left the school!”
When a few moments passed with no answer, Ceaira started to become worried. Normally Aquilia would have been speeding down the stairs and into the kitchen before three seconds could pass on any watch or clock. “Aquilia?” After more time passed without any recognition, Ceaira finally decided to take the initiative and race up the stairs and toward her room. She could feel something was terribly wrong but she couldn’t explain what or why to herself.
“Aquilia, are you in here?” Opening the door to her bedroom, Ceaira looked around carefully in hopes a Kayo Gem had not invaded her house while she was gone. The room seemed to be completely undisturbed since that morning, but Aquilia was not in her bird cage or on her pillow on the bed. Walking further into her domain, the Gemcaptor looked around once more as she headed over to the other side of the bed. Suddenly, she found a sight which completely horrified her to the core of her soul. “NO!”
Lying on the floor and barely showing any signs of life was Aquilia herself, eyes closed and wings sprawled out. Feathers were all around her and the condition of the ones on her body appeared to had gotten much worse since Kero and Suppi’s visit. Her color was a badly faded sapphire to the point of becoming a dark grey as her beak and talons had already dulled to. Ceaira’s eyes filled with tears as her legs weakened, causing her to drop to her knees and stare at the poor bird’s body. “Aquilia . . .”
Reaching out, she carefully picked up the small budgie and cradled Aquilia in her arms. Suddenly, she began to stir and her eyes opened very slowly. Looking up at the frightened Ceaira, she gave a faint smile as she coughed once. “Hi Ceaira . . .” “Aquilia, what’s . . .happening to you?” “It’s the funniest thing . . .Clow Reed’s power seems to be working . . .” “What do you mean?!”
Coughing again, the small bird smiled again as her eyes closed, but she still remained awake to give Ceaira the explanation she needed. “Well, Clow Reed and Kayo were waging a sibling rivalry to end all rivalries. They got to the point where they put curses on Kero and myself. He couldn’t become his lion form without Firey and Earthy, and my curse . . .was to die if I didn’t get the Star Gem and the four Elemental Gems by the time six months pass if the Kayo Gems were accidentally released. There’s . . .about eight days left until my life is completely extinguished . . .”
Ceaira squeezes her eyes shut instantly, causing the tears to be released and roll down her face. “You can’t die! There’s no way you can die!” She then opened her eyes and narrowed then in an anger that she was unable to control. “I WON’T LET YOU DIE!” Aquilia could only laugh quietly, going into a coughing fit. “It’s fate Ceaira . . .but . . .I still have faith. You might be able to find it, but if you . . .don’t, then don’t blame yourself. Nothing is your fault in this life . . .remember that.”
Closing her eyes, Aquilia decided to take a nap to keep her energy going in hopes of lasting a day or two longer than the allotted eight. Ceaira started to fully cry, hugging the small bird close to her as she stood up and headed for the window. The sun was halfway set on the horizon as she clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes. “Aquilia . . .I’ve made so many mistakes and you’ve never held anything against me. I brought this on you my opening the chest, so now I’ll make it my goal to find that Star Gem and bring you back to full health. This I promise . . .”
Next time, the group finally gahters together completely for the perfect and correct reunion. Ceaira is excited to meet Eriol and he too is excited to meet the descendant of Clow Kayo. However . . .
“You’re the reincarnation of Clow Reed?”
Tension is suddenly formed when Ceaira discovers that Eriol was Clow Reed in a past life, causing her depression over Aquilia’s future to cause an anger directed to Eriol.
It’s your fault that Aquilia’s dying!”
Can the gang work out the differences between the two Clow’s before it gets to serious? And if they’re divided, how will they contend with Agility and Dash? Find out next time in Episode Nineteen: Forgive and Forget!
“Each gem that is captured has a mystical seal . . .a new mystifying gem today we shall reveal . . .”
The Kayo box is dark blue with the image of a golden eagle on the lid. It suddenly flipped opened and tipped over, causing all the gems inside to spill out onto the ground. they all bounced around, but one landed and spun around on one side. It then fell over into it’s flat side to reveal the image to be a dark grey lock attached to a coiled chain.
“Lock Gem!”
A chain rose up from the table and flew toward Ceaira and Tori, wrapping around both bodies and chaining them together. The two struggled before Ceaira finally summoned her crossbow. She released the Create Gem to make a lock pick, which she used to break the chain’s grip. She then sealed it before it could repeat the actions already demonstrated. The Lock Gem is then shown again before bursting into a dark grey light.
“Hey there Card fans! It’s once again time for Kero’s corner and today’s segment talks about downtown Reidenton!”
Kero then turns on the small TV to show a scene of Ceaira & company exiting the café and walking down the street towards the high school.
“As shown here, there are many great stores in the heart of the city where the students like to go and eat if they have permission to leave school grounds.”
He then changes the channel to show snapshots of different stores in the downtown area.
“There’s the nice little coffee shop here, and a famous place to all the Cardcaptors fans is Maggie’s store called Twin Bells. Check out all of the cute toys! Of course, no toy in the world an compare to my good looks, don’t you agree?”
Kero smiles then flies closer until his face is almost right up again the camera lens.
“And now, check out this!”
He changes the channel once again to show snapshots of other places within the city that have appeared in the show during past episodes.
“These are other places that play significant roles or a role in the series. There’s the Ice Pond Palace, the little toy shop on the day I switched body’s with Li, the shrine where Miss Mackenzie lives, and of course the infamous Penguin Park!”
Really into something, the camera shows Kero playing a miniature grappling game, with him trying to get the Aquilia plushie. He stops for a moment to turn back to the camera.
“And that’s the extremely quick tour of Reidenton! I would show you more important places, but then I would be spoiling future episodes because some of these have yet to make a appearance. Until next time, see ya later!”
He waves then plays the game some more. He suddenly cries out and starts beating up the machine as the scene fades out, for he has just lost the plushie toy.
