Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ The True Enchantment ❯ Treachery ( Chapter 8 )

The True Enchantment

A CCS fic

By: nikki hiiragizawa <nikki_hiiragizawa@rurouni.com>

Genre: angst/romance/supernatural

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Guess what? I received CCS for Christmas! Nah……it's still not mine….no need to rub it, okay.

Nikki: Another E/T fic, heheh. This is not a Christmas fic, although, it has a Christmas setting in it. Although there's too many CCS fics around, I hope you had time to read mine. Arigatou gozaimasu. Please read and review.

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Chapter 8: Treachery

Tomoyo sat forlornly on a stool, Two figures were standing beside her, sulking.

"You could have been caught, going out by yourself!" Sayaka scolded, throwing her hands to the air.

"Not only that, something must have triggered her that we almost lost our grasp to her mind," Keiko observed.

Sayaka looked anxious. "We have to hide you carefully from now on. No going out anymore."

"I'm sorry, Sayaka-chan," Tomoyo silently apologized. "I'll stay home and practice my magic instead."

Keiko huffed and turned to the figure leaning against a pillar. "What do we do now, Nikki?"

But Nikki wasn't listening. Her mind was scuffling through the events that happened in the past weeks. Eriol - What have I done? Her magical self shook the thought of Eriol away, promising her all the power she wanted that even Eriol would fall into her hands. No, I can't her real self furiously said. Nothing's more powerful than……than Eriol's love…..I can't seem to take this anymore! We have to stop!

"Uh……Nikki?" Sayaka was poking her with her staff. Nikki jerked up.

"What?"

Keiko raised one slender eyebrow. "What is wrong with you?!" Even Tomoyo was looking at her quizzically.

"Uh, nothing," Nikki lied. "I'm having a moral dilemma…..i mean I was thinking about my report on moral dilemma." She walked out of rituals room. Sayaka shrugged her shoulders and took Tomoyo home.

~*~

Eriol sat by the piano. He and Tomoyo always practice in this room, sometimes until dark when there is contests.

He remembered their meeting yesterday. He was sure it was Tomoyo, but he did not know how he knew. He held out his hand which held Madison's the night before. He has to ask Nikki - san……

His eyebrows met. Why didn't he thinking much of Nikki. There's something mysterious about her, considering he trusted her soon enough that he told her his troubles. He never trusted people that way - unless……

Eriol slammed his fist against the piano keys, creating a banging sound. Why didn't he think about that before. Nikki's warnings about not finding Tomoyo, her affection towards him - it all fits. Eriol finally concluded - he was attracted to Kayama Nikki because she has the gift of power.

I'll get her he silently vowed. His thoughts ran back to Madison, the petite girl with shoulder- - length hair and dark, unblinking eyes.

"Is she really Tomoyo?" he asked softly.

"Hiiragizawa-kun," Nikki was leaning against the doorframe of the piano room. When Eriol did not return her greeting, she frowned and approached him. "Eriol Hii…."

"You know Tomoyo's alive, right?" Nikki stepped backward upon hearing Eriol's words.

"What the - " Eriol glared at her.

"I got you. Now tell me, where is Tomoyo - or rather - Madison?" Eriol stepped towards her and before she could escape, Eriol had her shoulder in a death grip.

"Answer me, Kayama-san!"

"I - I don't know!" she lied, collapsing against the wall. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Oh really? You want to bet?" Eriol replied, this time, no grin came with his joke.

"I - I just want to be close to you. So I mentioned Tomoyo. If you don't want to talk about her, I wouldn't really." She turned towards the door but found it firmly shut.

"You are not a very good liar."

"Hiiragizawa-kun……" She then fell on her knees and grasped at Eriol's coat. "Please, Eriol-kun, you know I really like you and…."

"Since when did you learn to use my first name?" Eriol asked coldly.

Nikki shrank back, sobbing. "You - you are so cruel….."

Eriol loomed above her. "I am only cruel when somebody hurt my loved one. Now tell me mage, where did you keep Tomoyo?" Nikki's eyes widened at the mention of the word 'mage'. Eriol merely shook his head.

"I should have known sooner it was your magic power that made me attracted to you, your aura is really powerful," he concluded. "I am so stupid!" He turned to Nikki. "I know you wouldn't tell me. But with that, I have to defeat you with all of my power."

"I don't want to fight," Nikki stood and leaned against the wall weakly. "It's enough defeat for me that you rejected my affections, however hard I tried to remove Tomoyo from your mind. Do you really love her that much?" Eriol nodded. Nikki sighed. "You cannot defeat us alone, Clow," she continued. "Our powers are complete, there's only one solution for you and that is to flee for your very lives."

"I cannot leave Tomoyo-san," Eriol firmly said, keeping his ground. Nikki frowned.

"I cannot help you."

It was Eriol's turn to plead. "Please Nikki-san. You know what you are doing will hurt a lot of people."

"What do you know about us. You don't really care. All you care about is your happiness!" Nikki snapped. Eriol was surprised, but he did not budge.

"I know. And the only way I can repay the girl I failed is by saving her now. Please help me. You have been her friend and I know that deep inside you don't want to do this."

Maybe it was Nikki's conscience, or her affections for Eriol that made her soften. "You cannot defeat us unless the Circle is broken. I'll offer myself to the Pillar so that you may enter by the East side."

"But you will be endangered." Eriol bent to place a hand on her shoulder, but she moved away, her back to him.

"You cannot save Tomoyo in any other way. This is the only option," she replied.

"However I want to thank you, I can't keep from asking, why are you doing this?" Eriol said, warily observing if he is falling for some trap.

"Because I have affections for you," Nikki said, averting her eyes away from Eriol's face. "And besides, our powers are getting stronger. I am afraid of what we might do if we continued. I regret being an elemental pillar."

"Is that so?"

Nikki bowed. "To prove it." She released her staff. Chanting some strange words, she raised her staff. Eriol gaped as the staff slowly melted. From inside Nikki came a strong yellow glow that slowly faded with the wand. Nikki screamed in pain until all the light ebbed away from her body and she collapsed. Eriol caught her and she faintly smiled.

"There, I removed all my powers from my staff. The Pillar of Earth is open.' Her violet gaze scanned Eriol's. "You could enter the altar by the East Pillar. If you enter from any other side, the fire will consume you. "

"But, how will I rescue Tomoyo?" Eriol asked urgently. Nikki opened her eyes.

"To tell you the truth, we made her a permanent member. It is up to her if she wants to give up her power." She closed her eyes again.

"But I thought you controlled her mind."

"Then, you have to defeat the other two members first. Take care, and go with my love." Nikki fainted. Eriol bent to carry her, but he heard voices. His staff released, he jumped out of the window.

~*~

Keiko was facing a shocked Fujitaka. "Really, Touya. I don't mind you taking Yukito home, but a girl home……"

"I want her to sleep here, Father. You have no other choice." He marched up the stairs, with Keiko murmuring an apology to Fujitaka and hurrying to Touya.

Touya held the door open for her and she bowed as she entered. She smiled as she heard the lock click when Touya locked the room.

Inside the bedroom, Keiko suddenly felt an intense pain. She fell on her knees to her side. She writhed on the floor, face picturing intense agony.

"Keiko-chan, doushi….." the dull gray on Touya's eyes suddenly disappeared.

"What are we doing here? In my house?" Touya lunged towards her, but Keiko managed to slip out of his grasp. The black-haired boy looked at her with anger.

"Uh - oh…bye for now." Glowing red, Keiko raised her materialized staff and evaporated to thin air.

~*~

"Sakura, listen to me." Syaoran caught Sakura's arm. They were through chasing each other through the whole school as Sayaka watched with enjoyment.

Sakura glared at Syaoran. "What for? You were caught in the act. Is there anything else we need to talk about?"

Syaoran turned pitiful eyes towards Sayaka. "Please tell her we don't have any relationship."

Sayaka came closer to Sakura and glanced at her from head to foot. "Crybaby," she remarked.

"What did you say?" Sakura demanded. Sayaka smirked.

"No wonder Syaoran came to me. He'd gotten tired of you." She flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Sakura's green eyes were filled with tears. "I knew it! I knew it!" She slumped on the ground while Sayaka slurped her ice cream happily.

Syaoran grabbed Sayaka's arm. "Why are you lying? Tell her the truth!"

"Yare yare, but I am telling her the….aaaahhhh!!!!" Sayaka fell on the ground, apparently on pain.

Syaoran and Sakura stared at the girl. She held her throat as if somebody's smothering her. At last she panted, the pain had gone. Instead on her face was great anger.

"Sorry, I have to play another time." Running away from them to the school, the mysterious blonde-haired girl left the couple shocked.

~*~

Nikki awoke and found herself lying in front of their altar. She sat up, anxiety rushing to her veins.

"I thought we are going to be victorious." Sayaka appeared from behind her.

"Until some cat decided to go out of the bag." Keiko followed her.

"Minna….." she scrambled backward until her back hit the altar.

"Should we ask for your excuses?" Sayaka asked, her glare nerve - tingling.

"Or should we call on, Madison?" Keiko said, her amber eyes glowing. She motioned Tomoyo to come in. Tomoyo came, clothed in full blue, and holding her new staff, which has wings perched on the sides and on top.

"Dear Madison, would you like to know who our traitor is?" Sayaka purred in Tomoyo's ear.

"Yeah, the one who ruined our plans." Keiko glanced sideways at their traitor.

Nikki sighed. "Minna, I am just concerned…." Her statement was punctuated by a fire blast from Keiko's staff.

"You imposed the rule on us! NO mercy!" Nikki staggered as she leaned on her pillar.

"Demo…." Nikki bowed her head. She knew nothing will pacify her companions. "You can do what you want, anyway. I have no right to argue."

Sayaka looked at Keiko, who nodded. "I'm afraid I'll have to give you the supreme punishment. The Banishment Spell." Nikki looked up with horror.

"Tomoyo-chan, come over." Tomoyo came forward.

"People who made mistakes should not be forgiven, right?" Tomoyo darkly asked. Keiko gloomily nodded.

Tomoyo held up her staff and opened the Book of Spells. "I, Madison, Pillar of the Wind, will now alight upon you the ultimate curse of banishment. Treachery and Disloyalty is unforgivable…."

Nikki did not hear the rest of Madison/Tomoyo's speech. She was awaiting in fear the fate assigned to her. Gomen nasai for so much trouble, Eriol Hiiragizawa….. She looked up to meet her judgment.

"Matte kudasai!" somebody from the door shouted. A blinding light made the four cover their eyes and cower. Eriol stood on the doorstep. With him stood Syaoran and Sakura, weapons ready, with Keroberos, Yue, Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun outside the room.

"This has got to stop," Sakura said, coming forward. "Tomoyo-chan!" she ran to hug her friend.

Tomoyo was not using her disguise, but her features were a bit different. Her hair had really been shortened, and her eyes changed from a bright purple to a dark blue. Sakura shook her.

"Tomoyo-chan! You are alright!" Tomoyo, instead of being pleased, pushed her friend away.

"Matte! Ahh!" Tomoyo let out a gust of wind from her staff and knocked air out of Sakura. Syaoran came to help Sakura while the mistress of the Clow cried softly. "She - She doesn't recognize us!"

Eriol shook his head. "She is under a permanent spell."

"How clever of you to find out, Clow," Sayaka replied from the altar. "Or maybe the traitor here was useful to you."

"Nikki-san!" Nikki was tied up to a pillar, her pillar.

"Hurry before it's too late!" Nikki screamed. Before Eriol could reach the pillar, Sayaka had him inside a circle of solid ice.

"Think you can defeat us that easily?" Sayaka sneered..

Sakura, panicking, saw Tomoyo hold up a spindle. Wound around it were four threads, blue, red, green and yellow. The yellow one seems to have been tangled. Tomoyo pulled it out and stretched it.

At the same time, Nikki screamed in pain.

"Nikki-san!" Eriol yelled. Brandishing his sword, Syaoran moved forward.

"Sakura, use your Firey Card." Sakura shakily called out Firey. Powerful as it was, Firey melted the ring of ice.

Sayaka was not unnerved. "That won't work." The melted ice became a whirlpool of water, starting from Sayaka's hands, swirling around Eriol and ending in Sayaka's hands again.

"Too bad your friend is trapped." Sayaka moved her hands up, and the water, miraculously not gushing in all directions, pulled Eriol downwards.

"Eriol-kun!" Nikki screamed. She tried to escape, but her Pillar held her tightly.

Keiko, meanwhile, raised her staff. "And now the sacrificial victim has to be offered, for the ultimate closing of the Circle and for the great power offered in return for the blood of the Order of the Earth……" Vines gripped Nikki's body, pinning her down against the pillar. On the bowl of fire across her, the Wolf Tomoyo had seen weeks before appeared.

"The Ultimate goal," Tomoyo murmured.

"Tomoyo-chan, stop them!" Sakura pleaded. The Clow guardians flew into the room to stop the ritual, but were stopped by a barrier enveloping everybody in the room.

"Sorry, outsiders remain outside," Keiko solemnly said. "This is a battle between humans." She glared menacingly at Sakura.

"Watery!" Sakura commanded the Watery Card to take control of waves drowning Eriol, but it was of no avail. The water slowly thickened to ice again, covering the wizard in ice. Eriol was unable to move and summon a spell, for his staff remained only half materialized.

"I know, Sakura! Use Firey again!" Syaoran urgently said. Sakura called Firey, and as the fire melted the ice, Syaoran raised his sword and summoned lightning.

Sayaka fell to a heap, defeated by the double team. Keiko ran towards the Water Pillar.

"I cannot let you in the circle," Keiko angrily said as Sakura helped Eriol up. Sakura got her own staff ready.

"Do as you wish," Sakura said. In a second, the room turned to a blazing inferno, Flames encircled them. But now Sakura wasn't scared.

"I know this isn't a bluff. But I know how to attack this, too." Sakura raised her staff and invoked Watery, Rain and Wave. Water, because of its dominance over fire, swept the Pillar of Fire and swept her out of the Circle.

"Eriol-kun! Go now." Sakura gripped her wand tightly. Eriol entered the pillar carefully through the East, and headed towards the altar, when another figure blocked his way.

"You forgot about me." It was Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo-san, forget this, you must comeback with us." Tomoyo's eyes narrowed.

"My name's Madison, jerk!" She whipped a handful of air and pushed it towards Eriol, making the wizard collide with a bowl of fire.

"Tomoyo-san," Eriol said as he struggled to get up.

"You harmed my sisters. You must pay." Strong wind ruffled through the spell book and stopped when Tomoyo commanded it.

"I, Pillar of Wind," Tomoyo started chanting.

Gathering his full will, Eriol took a stride and held Tomoyo's waist.

"What do you think you are doing?!" Tomoyo shrilled, struggling to get out of Eriol's grasp. One wave of her wand brought Sakura, Syaoran and Eriol down.

Tomoyo continued chanting. "I sacrifice myself for the benefit of the circle. Consume me and the power of……" Wind began to gather around her, and Sakura and Eriol were having a hard time reaching her.

The other three guardians awakened. Tomoyo quickly blasted Nikki with a whirlwind, wrapping it around the mage's neck. As she gasped for air, the two others invoked their power.

"You can't defeat us," Sayaka screamed through the howling wind, enveloping Sakura in cold ice.

"Sakura!" Syaoran ran to save her, but Keiko quickly covered him in a dome of fire.

"You can't run now, anyway. So you can just wait until you die," Tomoyo said. She raised her arms to the air and the griffin was called, its claws scratching the ground.

"Tomoyo! Don't do this!" Eriol said, pushing himself towards the altar. He stumbled and was able to bump into Tomoyo.

"Begone, invader!" Tomoyo shrilled again, but this time, Eriol looked at her with serene sapphire eyes.

"Tomoyo, remember our promise?" Tomoyo's expression softened, but she held her ground. Her staff stayed still in the air.

"Do it, Madison!" Keiko commanded.

"I - " Tomoyo looked unbelievingly at Eriol. She shook her soft features off. "What are you talking about?"

"Yubikiri." Eriol held up his pinky and entwined it with the pinky of Tomoyo's free

hand.

"Yubi……kiri……" Tomoyo stared at their entwined fingers. Tears fall from her eyes. She hastily wiped them away.

"You - can't - defeat - us….." Tomoyo stammered. Her tears continued to flow, and something changed.

As sudden as the start of attacks, the winds vanished. Tomoyo's dark blue eyes eventually returned to their violet color, and she stared blankly at the surroundings. The two pillars, shocked, refrained from attacking.

"What is happening? Why are we all here?" She saw Nikki fall to the floor. "Nikki - chan!" She cradled the older girl's body on her lap.

"Tomoyo-chan! You're okay!" Sakura ran to hug her again. Eriol stood and watched them, weak with relief. Tomoyo met his eyes.

"Eriol-kun! What are you doing here…."

"How could they defeat our spell?" Sayaka asked in disbelief. "It is the most powerful that we know of……"

"That is enough!" Keiko slowly walked towards them, Sayaka behind her. "No one can stop our plans, and no one will come out of this room alive, either." Both of them raised their staffs and called to their powers.

"Tomoyo! Destroy the book!" Eriol hurriedly said.

Tomoyo stood, confused. "But - but why? I am learning magic……and I can't……they're my friends….."

"Tomoyo-chan, if you don't destroy the book, they'll kill us all," Sakura briefly explained. Tomoyo stared into blank space, confused with what to do.

"Trust me, Tomoyo. It will be for good. Destroy the book."

"Don't Tomoyo-chan," Sayaka said. "They just want you to destroy the book so that you won't learn magic." She hurled a beam of water towards Eriol, and Eriol was knocked on the ground.

"Eriol-kun!" Tomoyo ran towards Eriol but he stopped her.

"Go on. Destroy the book."

Tomoyo wept. "But I want to learn magic. Because……because you'll leave me again if I don't have powers and can't take care of myself…."

"You know that's not true," Eriol said. "I won't leave you. I promised you didn't I?" From the corner of his eye he saw Keiko aim and fire at Tomoyo and he quickly rolled and shielded Tomoyo from the attack. He invoked a shield around them.

But Eriol was weakening fast. His magic cannot compete with the others' anymore. The shild broke and Eriol was hit from the back with a fire helix. The strength of the attack knocked Eriol unconscious.

Tomoyo screamed, "No Eriol-Kun!" She ran and shook Eriol to wake him up. He did not wake up.

The Pillar of Wind stood up, eyes flashing with fury. "You'll pay for this." Quickly she ran towards the book. Keiko and Sayaka ran to restrain her.

"Shield!" A dome enveloped Tomoyo. Syaoran and Sakura managed to get away from the elemental attacks. Syaoran leaned against his sword while Sakura fell backward.

Tomoyo wanted to go to her friends, but there was no time. She ran to the altar, picked up the athame lying beside the cauldron and held it up, point towards the open book. Fortunately, the attacks were not penetrating through the shield. Keiko and Sayaka had also grown weak from too much interference from the three wizards.

"Book of Incantations, Hear my plea. End the chaos that lurks within." Tomoyo looked around. Eriol was lying unconscious on the floor. Sakura and Syaoran were limply leaning against the wall, their breaths coming in quick pants. Nikki lay on her side, slumped against the pillar she had offered her soul to. The wolf form on the bowl of fire has disappeared when Tomoyo awakened, but her friend was still in trouble. Taking a deep breath, Tomoyo pierced the book with the athame.

Screams sounded from the room. Tomoyo, Nikki, Keiko and Sayaka glowed with their element color. As sudden as it appeared, the lights diminished and the four of them fell to the floor unconscious.

Tomoyo's last clear vision was that Keroberos, Yue, Nakuru and Spinel Sun were able to enter the room and they all tended to the injured. She looked up and saw Ruby Moon's worried face looming above her.

"Please tell Eriol-kun, I'm sorry." Ruby Moon nodded, and Tomoyo blacked out.