Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Chaos Card Captor Sakura ❯ Perchance to Dream ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: Perchance to Dream

 

The sun rises on Tomoeda as the small town begins showing its first signs of life of the day. But in one particular household, not all had gotten a restful night of sleep…

 

***

 

Sakura's room

 

The alarm clock on Sakura's nightstand rings and vibrates around furiously, but Sakura remains asleep, her head buried under layers of sheets, showing no signs of waking up anytime soon.

 

Over on Sakura's desk lay the materials from last night: the leopard-ear hair band from her battle costume, her star key, the Clow Cards resting in the Clow Book, and one single Kaos Card, The Industry. The Industry lays on the table, next to the standing, sealed and filled Elixir of Fire, emitting an eerie pulsating orange glow.

 

Kero sits on the windowsill in a meditative stance, watching the sunrise. `Why, Clow?' he asks in thought. `You're the only sorcerer who could've orchestrated something like what happened last night. And you almost lost your successor in the process. I know you can hear my thoughts. Even though you passed away close to two centuries ago, your presence still inhabits this world. Answer me… Clow Gin…'

 

The morning wind whips up and patters fall leaves against the window, as if to answer Kero.

 

`Your anger taints this world, Gin. I'll testify that my former master may have been a bit of a screwball. But he wasn't a psychopath,' Kero thinks, turning his head towards the Elixir of Fire and The Industry card. “The nobler the path, the deeper the madness,” Kero whispers proverbially before levitating over to Sakura's nightstand and shutting off her alarm.

 

As Kero shuts off Sakura's alarm, he notices the lump under Sakura's covers, taking this as an indicator that his new master hasn't woken up yet after such a rough night. Approaching the lump that he perceives to be Sakura, Kero gently pokes at her from above the covers. Sakura responds by quickly snapping awake and throwing her covers over top of Kero.

 

Sakura wakes up with a scream before darting glances around her, realizing that she was asleep in her room. She reaches for her chest to control her heavy breathing when she notices that she is still wearing the same long gloves, vest, boots, and in fact her entire battle costume from the previous night, minus the ears and plus a serious case of bed-head. Even some of the makeup from the corners of her cheeks remains, as Sakura notices by removing a glove and wiping a finger across her cheeks. Staring at the makeup, Sakura tries to make sense of her current position, feeling detached from her surroundings. Her vision wanders to her desk, where the Elixir of Fire lay next to The Industry card.

 

Kero manages to squirm out from under a wad of Sakura's bed sheets that he had been buried under as he gasps for air. After catching his breath, he notices Sakura sitting up with a perplexed expression on her face. “Sakura… are you okay?” he asks nervously, not sure about Sakura's mental condition.

 

Sakura casts off her other long glove as she slowly rubs her eyes and steps out of her bed, drowsily pacing to her desk and leaning onto it. “I-I can't believe… that all… really happened,” she whispers with ephemeral disbelief, reaching towards the Elixir of Fire's lanyard and lifting it up.

 

The Elixir twirls around in slow, rotational motions within the bottle. The bottle's eyes glisten wickedly back at Sakura.

 

Sakura responds by placing the Elixir around her neck. “I am under your contract…” she says to the bottle, as the Elixir of Fire itself responds with a deep, lion-like growl.

 

Not standing idly by, Kero quickly flies over to the dazed Sakura and gets in her face. “Sakura, put it down. You're stronger than that Elixir of Fire gunk. Resist its control!” he insists frantically. At Sakura's lack of compliance, he flies down to the Elixir of Fire, now hanging around Sakura's neck, as he grabs it with his whole body. In response, the heat of the bottle causes Kero to recoil in pain.

 

The Elixir of Fire growls again as the beak of the vial descends into the bottle, allowing the Elixir of Fire to pour out and form the Circle of Kaos below Sakura's feet. Repeating what happened in the museum the previous night, the Elixir of Fire pours straight into Sakura's heart as orange light pours out her eyes and mouth. As this light dies down, the Elixir's empty bottle closes up and the circle of energy disappears.

 

Now glowing in the evil energies of the Elixir of Fire, Sakura cracks a wicked grin. “Don't worry, Kero-chan. I'm still here, and feeling better, and more powerful than ever,” she says to Kero, once again bearing the evil undertone that slowly merges into her normal voice. She reaches towards the Clow Book and grasps it firmly off the desk, closing it firmly and holding it shut, causing Kero to look on in worry.

 

“Sakura…” he mutters. “Sakura! Snap out of it!” he shouts, completely losing his cool and flying towards Sakura's wrist to bite her. Opening his mouth, he attempts to snap his meager jaws shut, but finds his bite is impeded by something on Sakura's skin.

 

Sakura grabs Kero firmly, straight out of the air, holding him to her face. “And I also have the power to not be bitten by teddy bears. Don't you remember the fight I had with the Industry? With the Elixir of Fire, I am invulnerable,” she informs Kero before setting the Clow Book down and wrapping both her hands around a struggling Kero's torso. “…and with the Elixir of Fire protecting me and giving me strength, I have no need for a guardian…” she begins as she closes a vice-like grip on Kero.

 

Now released, the Clow Book throws itself open, allowing the Clow Cards to throw themselves out of the book and form a ring around Sakura, though keeping at arms length from their possessed master.

 

Sakura glances around as the Clow Cards surround her. “Don't worry, your Guardian Beast will only suffer momentarily,” she chides sarcastically to the Clow Cards.

 

In response to Sakura, one of the cards begins horizontally spinning around, being surrounded by a small circle of Clow. Activating on its own, the rest of the Clow Cards back away, which allows for a giant mirror to appear behind Sakura. A girl with long green hair and a pale kimono looks on from the opposite side of the mirror, horrified at the emotionally-deformed remnants of her master before levitating through the surface of the mirror. As she emerges, she assumes Sakura's form.

 

Intrigued by the Mirror Card activating by itself, Sakura tosses Kero into a corner as she turns to face her mirror image. “What's the matter? Feeling a little insubordinate?” Sakura mocks, placing her hands on her hips.

 

Mirror begins shivering slightly at the frightening glare of her master until, with confident nerve, she grabs Sakura by the wrist. “Master Sakura, the Elixir of Fire is making you say and do things you don't mean,” she insists, though coming out more of a weak plea.

 

“Who says I don't mean what I say?” Sakura responds, shaking her hand free from Mirror's pathetically light grip. “The Elixir of Fire doesn't force me to say anything, but merely allows me to voice the feelings that I've held deep in my heart this whole time. So how about I just keep the power of the Elixir of Fire? How about you and your friends just get out of my room,” she begins, reaching towards her desk and picking up the Industry card and waving it in Mirror's face. “…because with this, I don't need Clow Reed or his pathetic magical misfits to baby-sit me. I'm feeling better and more powerful now than I've ever felt in my life,” she continues before shoving Mirror across the room forcefully, where the other Clow Cards levitate behind her and catch her. “Take your friends and go play Fifty-Two Pickup over Tomoeda. Sucker someone else into putting up with you!” she yells.

 

Mirror slowly regains her balance before standing up to Sakura again. She is about to say something, but Sakura's fingers quickly grasp around her neck, causing her to choke. Mirror tries to fight off Sakura's iron-strong grip from crushing her windpipe. As her eyes begin to glass over, her struggling grows weaker and weaker.

 

Sakura grins sickly. “Ever since I got conned into rounding you cards up, I've always wondered something: Is it physically possible to kill a Clow Card? Now I'm not quite sure at the moment, but I bet we'll have a lot of fun finding out…” she tells Mirror as she lifts her off the ground by her neck. Seeing Mirror's eyes roll back into her head, she holds out her opposite hand to grab a long wooden pole. Attached to the end of this pole is a hideous, crooked, blood-stained scythe. Grabbing hold of this new weapon, Sakura raises it up, preparing to cleave Mirror in half. Sakura swings the scythe at Mirror.

 

***

 

Sakura's room

 

Sakura wakes up with a scream, flailing about frantically. Tossing off her covers, she instinctively snatches her alarm clock off her nightstand before shutting it off. Rubbing her eyes, she takes a look around the room, seeing nothing out of place.

 

“A… a dream?” she mutters.

 

From inside Sakura's desk, the bottom right-hand drawer cracks itself open, allowing Kero to fly out. “Morning, Sakura,” he says to her, as if nothing was wrong.

 

Further scrutinizing her surroundings, Sakura looks at the backs of her hands, realizing that she is wearing her usual pink pajamas. “Kero-chan… what happened last night exactly?” Sakura asks Kero quizzically before climbing out of bed.

 

Kero flutters over to the window to crack it open and let the cool morning breeze in. “Nothing much. You did your report on European artwork after your dad took you to the museum. You and Tomoyo reviewed your notes. Why? Did you have a bad dream or something?” he responds typically.

 

Sakura takes a deep breath before sighing emphatically. “So it was all just a dream…” she sighs with relief as she climbs out of bed and sets her feet down. But upon setting her feet down, she notices that she is wearing a pair of leopard-spotted boots. “What? Those boots. They're from… hoee!!” Sakura shouts, as the next thing she realizes, she is wearing her battle costume from when she thought she and Tomoyo broke into the museum. Sakura looks at her gloved hands and realizes that, in one of her hands rests the Elixir of Fire. “I'm going insane! Kero-chan, what is this?!?!” Sakura cries out in frantic disbelief, showing Kero the Elixir of Fire.

 

To further encourage panic to Sakura, her bedroom door swings open and Fujitaka, her dad, peeks in. Sakura quickly hides the Elixir of Fire behind her back in response, still in shocked disbelief and wearing an expression on her face to match.

 

“Good morning, Sakura-san, Kero-chan. How was your sleep?” Fujitaka asks both Kero and Sakura.

Kero flies over from the windowsill towards Fujitaka. “It was great. I feel all rested and rejuvenated after that break-in last night. But Sakura doesn't seem to be doing so well,” he responds.

 

At hearing Kero's reply, Fujitaka walks through the doorway and paces towards Sakura. “Sakura-san, are you okay?” he begins as he kneels down to eye level with Sakura.

 

Sakura shakes her head nervously back and forth, keeping her hands behind her back in a pathetic attempt to hide the Elixir of Fire. “N-no, it's not what you think, dad! I didn't mean to! It just sorta' happened! I never wanted to hurt you!” Sakura insists in a frantic panic.

 

Fujitaka grabs Sakura's hands from behind her back, but Sakura fights back, doing her best to conceal the Elixir of Fire.

 

Kero floats over to Fujitaka's shoulder to offer a friendly yet unnerving smile in Sakura's direction. “C'mon, Sakura. Show your dad the Elixir of Fire you stole from the museum last night. He just wants to help,” he says matter-of-factly.

 

“Why don't you trust me?!?!” Sakura screams. Breaking Fujitaka's grip on her wrists, she pulls her hands out from behind her back, revealing a giant scythe, similar to the one from her dream. Without thinking, Sakura takes the scythe and lunges at Fujitaka with it.

 

***

 

Sakura's room

 

Once again, Sakura wakes up with a jolt, grabbing her alarm clock and turning it off. After stopping her alarm, she grabs at her chest, feeling her own thunderously heavy heartbeats through the button-up shirt of her pink pajamas. When her breathing regularizes and she surveys the seemingly normal surroundings of her room, she puts on a frustrated expression. “Okay, this is getting really annoying…” she growls.

 

“So you noticed it too?” Kero's voice responds. Kero flies up to Sakura's shoulder. “It's one thing to be nearly crushed to death by a possessed master, but that last one was just cheesy. And what was with that first one? Am I a poet all of a sudden or something?”

 

Sakura turns towards Kero as she quickly jumps out of bed. “So you're saying you remembered my dreams?” Sakura answers, surprised and feeling slightly relieved that her situation is no longer completely hopeless and confusing.

 

Kero puts a paw on his chin as he thinks. “It doesn't affect me because I'm a Guardian Beast with loyalty to Clow Reed. Which means that there's only one thing that this can be: a Kaos Card,” he deduces.

 

“Hoee, so they're real?!” Sakura screeches, backing away from Kero and balling up her hands in front of her face.

 

“Unfortunately,” Kero responds grimly. “And based on that scythe that appeared in both of your previous dreams, this card has to be the Nightmare Card,” he responds. “The Nightmare Card is extremely frustrating. It starts out by making you dream about your greatest outward fear, then delves deeper into your heart to uncover more subtle fears. First, you dreamt that you attacked me and the Clow Cards because you were possessed by the Elixir of Fire. Then you dreamt that you attacked your dad because you were afraid he'd be ashamed of you if he found out what you did. These will only get more intense and intimate as you go on. If you don't seal this card away, it'll reveal horrors that you didn't even know existed. And if the Nightmare Card ever decides to let you wake up, there won't be anything left of your mind but a cold, scarred shadow,” Kero explains.

 

“So I'm still dreaming?” Sakura asks hopelessly. “And if I keep dreaming, the Kaos Card will force me to attack Tomoyo-chan and Yukito-san too. How can I possibly wake up and know that I'm really awake?” she asks.

 

Kero folds his arms. “That's not a Kaos Card. That's just life. When you're awake, you never really know if you're dreaming or not. You can't know. It's impossible. All you can do is believe that the reality that you're in is real,” Kero answers. “But as for defeating the Kaos Card, that's possible, yet difficult. You can only beat the Kaos Card by living up to your deepest fears and facing them head-on. Then, the Nightmare won't be able to turn your fears against you and you won't go insane. To seal it away, you have to trust that you yourself have the power to seal it away. In this world, your subconscious is the ultimate deciding factor, and your will is your ultimate strength.”

 

Sakura tilts her head curiously. “So… you're saying that anything I think of in this dream world will become real?” she asks, becoming intrigued.

 

“Yep, that's pretty much how dreams work,” Kero nods.

 

Sakura then folds her legs, crosses her arms and sits with deep, deep concentration until a knocking sound comes from the other side of her bedroom door.

 

“Sakura-chan, breakfast is ready. Come on down and eat, and then I'll walk you to school,” the voice, clearly Yukito's, says from the other side of the door.

 

“It worked!” Sakura exclaims as she balls up her fists in front of her face to hide the blushes on her cheeks. She giggles childishly, but Kero interrupts her by walloping her over the head with his paw.

 

“Cut that out! You've got work to do!” Kero scolds. “And besides, the Nightmare Card is out to make you miserable by manipulating your dreams. At least don't give it any fodder,” Kero warns.

 

“Oh, let a girl live a little!” Sakura insists as she happily prances towards her bedroom door to open it. But as she eagerly swings her door open, an unconscious Yue falls face-first onto the floor.

 

Sakura quickly sidesteps the falling guardian. “Hoee! It's Yue-san!” she shrieks.

 

“Yue!” Kero shouts as he flies towards his lunar counterpart. Kero attempts to place a paw on Yue, to see whether he is still alive, only for Yue to vanish into sparkling silver dust, much to Kero's and Sakura's shock.

 

“Did the Nightmare Card do this to Yue-san? Is he in this dream too? What about Yukito-san? Is he okay?” Sakura asks frantically.

 

“Calm down!” Kero yells as he points out Sakura's open door. “It's still just a dream. Nightmare was just trying to psyche you out because you're getting closer to it. Look out there for your proof,” Kero instructs.

 

Sakura peers out the open doorway to see, not the usual corridor outside her room, but a dark, dank subway station. “What's that doing there? I didn't imagine that!” she protests. “That must mean the Nightmare Card is on the other side of this door…” she deduces, looking around.

 

“Hurry then! If you take too long, you'll wake up again before you confront the Nightmare Card's true form,” Kero advises.

 

Sakura nods, and then holds out her palm, in which her magic key materializes in her hands. “If this is a dream, then I should have all my Clow Cards to work with. So if the Nightmare Card is over there, I'll be ready,” she begins. “Key hiding the powers of the Darkness, reveal your true form before me. I, Sakura, command you under our contract: release!” she commands, as the small key in her hands grows into a full-sized wand. At this moment, Sakura plunges fearlessly through the mysterious portal at her doorway, with Kero right behind her.

 

Arriving in the dark, dank subway station, Sakura and Kero look around. The area is completely deserted, with debris like paper cups and old newspapers littering the ground and blowing through the windy station. Large concrete pillars are scattered about the wide area. The station, however looking like a normal subway station, is completely devoid of any identifying marks. Street signs and maps on the walls are completely blank. The suspended fluorescent lights, or the few that work anyway, flicker on and off. Even the subway tunnels themselves show no sign of oncoming trains.

 

“K-kero-chan… where did we go?” Sakura asks, shivering in both the cold wind and fear.

 

“Stay focused,” Kero instructs. “Whenever you freaked out in your previous dreams, you woke up. But we're too close to the Nightmare now. The only way to truly wake up is to seal it off.”

 

The wind from the subway tunnels begins whipping up violently, as if a train was coming. All the sound-cues that a train was arriving, the screeching of the tracks, the violent winds, they were all there. But the train itself was not. Sakura looks for the train frantically, her knees trembling.

 

“That's it, I'm outta' here!” Sakura insists, turning back towards where the door was, but only sees a tattered door frame sitting in the middle of nowhere.

 

“HOEE!” Sakura whimpers, throwing her hands over her head.

 

“Keep going!” Kero insists.

 

“But I forgot my Clow Cards in the room, and now I'm stuck here!” Sakura whimpers.

 

“Weakling…” a young, friendly, yet obnoxious voice echoes throughout the station.

 

“That voice…” Sakura whispers, snapping out of her fear.

 

“Oh great…” Kero moans, sinking in the air with an utter lack of enthusiasm.

 

Dressed up in full battle costume, Syaoran storms down the concrete stairwell. He swings his sword and launches lightning blasts as he retreats from… something up the stairwell. Heading straight for the security gates, Syaoran bounds over the barricades completely with a mid-air flip before meeting Sakura right in the center of the arena-like station.

 

“Li-kun?!” Sakura notices in shock.

 

“Kozo…” Kero mutters under his breath.

 

Syaoran turns towards the opening to the subway station and faces it with his sword extended. “Pie-day Sore-eyes!” he commands, blasting the doorway with a massive lightning bolt, collapsing the opening and sealing the last exit shut.

 

“Pie-day? Sore-eyes? That doesn't sound right…” Sakura inquires to Kero, hardly believing her ears.

 

“Since you haven't memorized how to pronounce the kozo's incantations properly, your mind is just imagining the closest pronunciation to the correct one,” Kero answers, before noticing the new predicament. “Hey, wait a sec… That kozo entombed us! We're stuck in here!” he notices angrily.

 

“But that thing is in here too…” Syaoran adds grimly.

 

“Uh… thing? That thing wouldn't happen to be a giant sickle, would it?” Sakura asks while nervously sweat-dropping.

 

Syaoran lowers his sword and stands straight, but then remains perfectly still, turned away from Sakura. “I can't seal it off. Only you can. Sakura…” he mutters in a humble and low tone.

 

“Do you mean the Nightmare Card?” Sakura asks.

 

Syaoran's shadow, cast from one of the working fluorescent lights, stretches long across the floor before rising off the ground under its own power. It takes the shape of an oversized model of the bottle that contains the Elixir of Fire, but with the beak pointing down, and the entire thing is a black shadow and not its usual pulsating orange. It points at Sakura, Syaoran and Kero.

 

“So, you are the one selected by that fool, Reed,” the apparition bellows out in a multi-voiced, deep cacophony.

 

Sakura darts behind Syaoran and peeks over his shoulder nervously, as she knew the being was addressing her.

 

Finally showing signs of life, Syaoran tightens his grip on his sword and raises his arms up protectively. “Leave her alone. I'm the one you want. You know it and I know it,” he bravely tells the floating shadow being.

 

The figure emits a deep cackle. “You broke your contract, Xiao Lang. You have no power over me anymore. Then again, I should have expected that you would turn on us, just as that coward Reed had done.” The beak of the being opens, allowing for a long wooden pole to protrude from its mouth. Attached to the latter end of the pole is a curved blade. It was the same exact scythe as before.

 

Syaoran braces himself, grabbing his sword double-handedly. “Do your worst…” Syaoran beckons, egging the thing on.

 

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… you shall never live long enough to do…” the shadowy apparition continues. The scythe raises itself up over Syaoran's head before hurtling down.

”SWORD!” Sakura announces. Her staff transforms into the image of the Sword card as she intercepts the swinging of the scythe, blocking for Syaoran at the last second. The impact forces Sakura to grab onto the Sword with both hands, but eventually the pressure brings her down to one knee. “Get out of my head, Kaos Card!” Sakura orders.

 

“And you would be wrong in that assumption, Kinomoto Sakura-san,” the shaded figure responds with a defiantly rumbling voice. “The scythe you guard against is the true form of the Nightmare, a Kaos Card, like you envisioned. I, on the other hand, am not a Kaos Card. I am but a spectator wishing to see what the Chosen of Clow Reed is capable of, and whether you are worthy of my master's attentions. If you are truly the Chosen of Clow Reed, dispel this dream and seal the Kaos Card away,” it offers.

 

The Nightmare lets up the pressure on Sakura, allowing her to stand up as the scythe returns to the side of the shadowy being. The shadow's beak opens once again, allowing two items to fly out and land at Sakura's feet: the Industry Card and the Elixir of Fire.

 

Sakura notices the two items given to her by the creature, staring deeply at them. She nods her head back and forth, resisting the pulsating, tempting glow of the Elixir of Fire. “No, no I won't give in. I won't play your games!” Sakura insists. “Kero-chan, who or what is this thing?” she asks before turning behind her to notice that Kero had vanished.

 

Syaoran had not completely vanished, but instead lay motionless on a distant set of railroad tracks, unconscious, battered, and not moving.

 

Sakura drops the Sword and runs over to the edge of the platform and kneels down. “LI-KUN!” Sakura desperately calls out to Syaoran from the platform, reaching out to him.

 

“Your test begins. Pick up the implements you have been given and defeat the Nightmare Card… if you are capable…” the shadow taunts.

 

Sakura grits her teeth as she approaches the shadowy being. “Get out of my head, demon!” she shouts at the shadow.

 

“If you are capable of defeating the Nightmare Card, you have nothing to fear from me,” the being calls out.

 

“And you are?” Sakura demands to know.

 

The shadow spurts out a stream of shadowy vapor behind it, which slowly takes the form of a four-footed giant animal. The shadowy bird skull connects with the face of the being, causing the foggy mess to take shape. It reveals its true self as a giant beast with the wings of a bat, fur made of serrated dark blue barbs, a mace-like tail, a spiky exposed spine, and a mask made of bone. The size of the beast consumes most of the available space in the now cramped-looking subway station. “I am called Lycan. I am the Guardian Beast of the Kaos, and the selector of my master's successor. In the museum, you unlocked me when you first opened the Elixir of Fire's vial. At that moment, as none before you had shown the inner anger to unlock the vial, I have been called forth by my master to test whether you are worthy of his intentions.”

 

Sakura nods her head back and forth, not even knowing where to begin. “No. No, you've got the wrong girl. You don't understand! The only reason the Elixir of Fire cracked open was because I dropped it! It's true!” she protests.

 

Lycan stares down at the insect-sized Sakura at his front paws. “Oh really? You claim the Elixir of Fire was an accident. The magic, on the other hand would beg to differ. You are much darker than you would attempt to be, Kinomoto Sakura. You hide behind your name, attempting to live up to being an innocent `cherry blossom'. But you hide so much. You are infuriated when your brother calls you a monster… because you know that it is true. You fail to appreciate the hard work of a close friend… because you care more about how you appear. You ignorantly reject the open compassion of those around you… choosing rather to fantasize your feelings away.”

 

“You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know me, Lycan!” Sakura insists, shaking her fist in opposition.

 

Lycan cackles deeply. “We shall let the Elixir of Fire decide. If indeed your heart holds goodness and purity, as you claim, you will never be able to harness the power you need to end this nightmare. But, if I am right and your heart is dark, then you will defeat the Nightmare Card with the power of your hatred. Nightmare Card, test this girl's heart…” Lycan drones.

 

The Elixir of Fire comes alive and rises off the ground. The beaked lid on the jar sinks, allowing the energy hidden to fly out. Sakura tries to run from this energy, but turns around and realizes that she cannot run from it, lest she fall on the railroad tracks below. Completely trapped, the Elixir entombs Sakura in a flaming whirlwind of magical energy. Sakura screams out loudly when the flaming cyclone is drawn into her heart. As the last of the fire permeates Sakura's smoking husk, Sakura raises her head to reveal an orange glow in her eyes.

 

“You don't know the first thing about me, Lycan. I'm more powerful than you or your master could ever be. And when I seal the Nightmare Card to do my bidding, I'll see to it that you and your master are next. Nobody makes a pawn out of me…” Sakura threatens ominously as she kneels and picks up the Sword Card off the ground. Reverting back into the staff, then the key, Sakura raises up her hand, all under Lycan's curious watch.

 

“Key hiding the powers of the Inferno, reveal your true form before me. I, Sakura, command you under our contract: release!” Sakura commands. The key levitates in her hand before flames consume it. It extends itself into a full wand, with the tip being replaced with a bird skull.

 

Taking its cue, the Nightmare snaps out of its motionless state at Lycan's side. It then lunges violently at Sakura. It attempts to slash at Sakura's shoulder, but the blade only manages to cut through the shoulder-part of Sakura's pajamas, stopping abruptly at her skin.

 

Sakura grabs the bladed scythe, lifting it off her shoulders before tossing it across the room. “What part of `invulnerable' do you not get? Stupid card…” She raises her free hand high into the air, causing the Industry card to shoot into her hand.

 

The Nightmare lifts itself off the ground slowly, as if injured, before raising itself as high as the ceiling allows, preparing to lunge at Sakura again.

 

Sakura grins wickedly as she tosses the Industry Card out before her and the flaming magical circle appears below her feet. “Industry Card, I command you to bind up the Nightmare in live wires!” she commands, hitting the card with the end of her corrupted staff.

 

Complying with its master's orders, the Industry appears as a ball of cables before splitting up and penetrating effortlessly into the wall. As the Industry's true form completely vanishes into the concrete around her, the subway station begins to rumble furiously before the concrete walls rip apart, revealing tons of wires, crackling with electricity. The wires quickly ensnare the Nightmare in a spider-web of wires springing up from all directions. The fluorescent lights of the station simultaneously go dim and out as the Nightmare is ensnared in the live wires, causing it to glow bright blue with the electric current of the subway station flows through its being. Sakura doesn't even as much as squint away as the Nightmare is electrocuted, while Lycan continues to watch impassively.

 

The Nightmare falls at Sakura's feet, still smoking from being electrocuted, and not moving at all.

 

“And this makes two,” Sakura says as she raises her staff above her head. “Now get out of my dreams and return to your original form: Kaos Card!” Sakura commands, swinging her wand down.

 

At Sakura's incantation, the Nightmare begins to evaporate into a shady vapor that flows into the form of a card at the end of Sakura's staff.

 

Having seen enough, Lycan begins to fade away, slowly vanishing into thin air. “My master will be pleased…” Lycan mutters as he disappears.

 

Nightmare's scythe form completely evaporates and is sucked into the glowing orange card form at the end of Sakura's staff. Completing the sealing process, the Nightmare Card ceases its glow and floats into Sakura's hand. Sakura looks at the newest acquisition to her collection of magical cards, and it showed the picture of the scythe that had haunted her dreams up until now.

 

“You did it!” Kero shouts, jumping right in Sakura's face and nearly causing her to lose her balance and fall on the railroad tracks behind her.

 

“And where exactly did you go, you coward?!” Sakura shouts at Kero as she regains her balance.

 

“Calm down, Sakura. Now that the Nightmare has been sealed, this dream world will disappear and you'll wake up good as new,” Kero says as he begins to glow with a bright white corona.

 

The Elixir of Fire blasts out of Sakura's mouth and eyes, returning to the bottle on the floor, allowing a clearly weaker Sakura to gaze around weakly at her surroundings, but she quickly regains her composure as the entire station around her begins to glow with a soft white light.

 

“Hoee? What's happening? Kero-chan, are you okay?” Sakura asks, falling weakly to her knees and dropping her reverted key on the ground.

 

Kero floats down to eye-level with Sakura. “Don't worry, you're just waking up. Now that the Nightmare Card has been sealed, you're free of this dream,” he explains.

 

Sakura looks back towards the railroad tracks, looking for where Syaoran was, but sees no one before turning back towards Kero. “Kero-chan, will you know about this stuff when you wake up, because I have soooo many questions about what happened in this dream!” Sakura asks.

 

Kero dissolves into white sparkling dust, his voice now coming from all directions. “Zettai daijobu, Sakura. To tell you the truth, I never really was Keroberos. I was just a figment of your imagination, the part of your consciousness that trusts in your abilities. Everything you managed to do in this dream, you did on your own. You should be very proud of yourself,” Kero's voice echoes.

 

“But what about Yue-san?” Sakura asks, standing up and shouting into the glowing white sky. “And is Li-kun going to be okay? Why did he appear? And what about Lycan? Was Lycan real, or just a dream too?” Sakura shouts towards the glowing white sky.

 

“All the answers are in your heart…” Kero's voice says softly.

 

***

 

Outside Sakura's house

 

Sunlight breaks over the horizon overlooking Sakura's house. Tomoyo sits on the front porch, grabbing Sakura's shoulders and shaking, and Kero floats over Sakura as he tugs at her cheeks.

 

“Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Please wake up!” Tomoyo pleads worriedly, shaking a comatose Sakura by the shoulders.

 

Kero releases Sakura's swollen cheeks, beginning to give up. “It's no use. She's not waking up, and we've been at this for over an hour!”

 

“Do you think this is because of the Elixir of Fire?” Tomoyo asks.

 

“No, it's not,” Kero responds quickly. “Sakura is just exhausted. Before using the Elixir of Fire, she used a ton of Clow Cards, one right after the other. She wasted a lot of magic that way, and now she's just tired. But I don't know how she could be this tired,” he explains.

 

Beginning to show signs of life, Sakura's closed eyelids begin to twitch about as Sakura slowly opens her eyes. “…uhh …hoee…” she moans sleepily.

 

“Sakura-chan!” Tomoyo shouts thankfully as she tightly hugs Sakura.

 

“Ow! Tomoyo-chan, let go, please, you're crushing me!” Sakura asks, short of breath.

 

Tomoyo quickly releases Sakura, allowing Sakura to rub her sore head.

 

Sakura looks at her still gloved hands as she twitches her fingers slowly. “I… remember…” she says weakly.

 

Suddenly, a soft orange glow appears in her hands, taking the form of a card. The Nightmare Card is dropped into her hands, already engraved with Sakura's name.

 

Kero looks over Sakura's shoulder at the card that materialized before her. “So, the Nightmare Card was responsible. That would explain why you didn't wake up.”

 

“The Nightmare Card?” Tomoyo asks quizzically.

 

“The dream…” Sakura mutters. “I remember the dream. In the dream, I attacked Kero-chan and the Clow Cards. The Elixir of Fire made me do it. Then, I attacked dad. And then… it was so dark and cold. …and Li-kun… was there too…” she drones on, with Kero and Tomoyo listening attentively.

 

“The kozo attacked you?” Kero asks quickly, jumping to conclusions.

 

“No,” Sakura answers softly. “There was something else there. It wasn't Li-kun, but it wasn't the Nightmare Card either. It was… huge,” she continues. “It said it was a Guardian Beast, like Kero-chan. But he kept saying these horrible lies. It told me that I was evil. That my evil is what opened the Elixir of Fire.”

 

“Another Guardian Beast?” Kero asks with fearful intrigue. “What was it called? What did it look like? Did it have any identifying marks?”

 

“It was called… Lycan…” Sakura answers, trembling. She pulls her knees up to her face and rocks back and forth. “I'm not evil. I'm not!” Sakura insists weakly.

 

Tomoyo places her hands on Sakura's shoulders. “Of course you're not,” Tomoyo insists.

 

Kero continues to flutter about in the air as he turns away from Sakura and Tomoyo. `Lycan. That sounds so familiar. Where have I heard that name before?' he thinks to himself as he stares at the last few visible stars of the morning sky.