Chapter 2: - CLOUDy and RAINy Days
"Sakura, I have something to show you." Tomoyo was excitable the next morning as Sakura was about to start cleaning duty. She pulled her camcorder out of her bag and put it on Sakura's desk.
"A video?"
"I was able to film something amusing extremely amusing last night." Tomoyo pressed play.
Sakura had to fight to not show any emotion as she saw herself, flying across the sky and doubling back, laughing at something, Kero at her side. "What is that?"
Tomyo was grinning, "This is an enlargement." The video started again and Sakura saw that there was no way she was going to be able to talk herself out of it, as it was clearly her on the winged staff, a terrified yelp escaping her.
"What's wrong Sakura?" Kero exploded out of her school bag, "What's happened? Is it a Clow Card?" Kero stopped and stared at Tomoyo, who looked at the video and then at the flying bear.
"My, a striking resemblance." Tomoyo looked thrilled.
"Have you seen Yugi yet?" Sakura asked cautiously.
"He normally walks to school with Tea." Tomoyo pointed out. "Why?"
"No reason, I just wondered."
There was no chance for her to say anymore, as Raine, Sakura's cleaning duty partner arrived and Kero dove back into the bag.
Tomoyo didn't miss, as the rest of the class slipped in, that Yugi's bag looked a little heavier then usual and he tried to catch Sakura's eye. Something had happened there. She thought as a message was passed along the classroom, from Sakura, to her, then to Raine and then along until it reached Tea and finally Yugi. Who started, frowned and looked at Sakura, and then gave an almost imperceptible nod before turning back to his class work.
When lunch time rolled around, the gathered out of sight of the main football pitch, where the majority of the school's students gathered and set up their dinner things, Kero escaping the pack and explaining why he'd come to school.
Tea, of course, thought he was adorable and started hugging him, once she'd gotten over the shock of a talking teddy, of course.
"I was distracted or I would have sensed it sooner." Kero said, as Tea finally let him go so they could eat. "Sakura, meet that huge magical power I told you about last night." He pointed at Yugi.
"ME?" Yugi yelped, then looked around, checking no one was coming over, "I don't have magic."
"Another new magician!" Kero asked, "There's two in the same area? Is there no one around who can recognize magical talent anymore?" He sighed.
"So, if it's alright to tell us. Who is he?" Yugi asked, wondering for a moment, if his new 'magic' had anything to do with his Grandfather's tales of the 'power of Darkness'. "You didn't tell me last night."
"He says his name is Kerberos," Sakura said.
"He sure looks different from his name." Tomoyo said.
"He's so cute." Tea said, offering one of her sandwiches to the bear.
"I've been calling him Kero." Sakura said as Kero accepted it.
"Don't call me like I'm some frog! I'm Kerberos, the Beast of the Seal who guards the Clow Cards!" Kero protested before taking a bite and grinning, "Yum!"
"Clow Cards?" Tomoyo asked.
They ate while Sakura and Kero explained everything about the Clow Cards and Sakura becoming a Cardcaptor, and then they were onto Yugi and his magic, with Kero suggesting that they look up the last people to have any link to Yugi's magic, since it wasn't a style that Kero recognized and since Clow Reed had been the best magician in the whole world, then it had to be a really rare type of magic. It was certainly old, Kero knew that much.
Tea was thinking as Tomoyo squealed, "The Cardcaptor that protects the city from the catastrophes of the Clow Cards and the mysterious newcomer, with old, powerful magic that helps her every step of the way… that's so awesome"
"Wait what?" Tea yelped, "Yugi only helped once."
"And I've only captured one card!" Sakura protested.
"No, you can do it Sakura! You too Yugi!" Tomoyo was excited and Yugi laughed as she turned to Sakura and practically leapt on her, "If you don't mind, can you show me how you use your magic?"
"Yeah, yeah, show her!" Kero cheered, making Yugi suddenly very glad that he didn't have a… could he call Kero a mentor…? He was more like one of those morality pets the magical girls on TV got.
"Note to self." He thought, "Never share that thought with the 'Guardian of the Seal'."
"But…"
"It's all right, there's no problems. Nobody's watching!" Kero continued.
Sakura stood up and took the key out from her pocket as Yugi carefully took the Millennium Puzzle and examined it. It seemed like an ordinary gold object, but why did he have the feeling it was much, much more then that?
"The Key which hides powers of the Dark!" Sakura intoned, glancing over her shoulder to see if Tomoyo and Tea were watching, "Show your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! RELEASE!"
Tomoyo watched as the circle lit up below her, the wind forming of it's own accord and blowing their hair around as key became staff in a burst of white light.
"You're able to use magic with this staff?" Tomoyo was asking as Tea watched Yugi's eyes flicker towards Sakura, ruby red for a moment, before amethyst was dancing with amusement at Tomoyo's reaction.
Tomoyo's excitable squeeing was cut short by the sudden formation of clouds and they were drenched by a sudden downpour before they could pack all of their lunch stuff away.
They dove inside, completely drenched and an ill amused Tea wrung out her blanket. "That was sudden." She growled as Yugi quickly put the Puzzle away and Sakura's staff shrank back down into the key and she put it in her pocket again. "It's not supposed to rain today."
"Do you think it's a Clow Card?" Tomoyo asked.
"Dunno." Kero shrugged, "It's a possibility, but I didn't sense one. Not that I can sense much over the amount of power you're wasting, kid." He directed at Yugi.
"Sorry, I don't know how…"
"To control it, I know. But try mediation or something. Your magic is distracting."
"Sorry." Yugi said, before Sakura had to grab Kero and stuff him unceremoniously into her bag when some of the upper years passed them. "Meditation?" He asked the group in general.
"It's when you clear your mind of thoughts." Tea said knowledgeably, "I'm not sure how it works, but there might be a book on it in the library."
"I don't think you're distracting, Yugi." Tomoyo said, "So perhaps it's only distracting to people who are sensitive to magic."
"Still, if it's problem and stopping Kero sense the Clow Cards, I should do something about it. I just wish I knew someone with…" Yugi trailed off, "I should talk to Grandpa."
"Will he believe you?"
"He believed all the other myths surrounding the Millennium Puzzle, why wouldn't he believe this?"
"Point." Tea acknowledged, "But you can't skip school."
"I'll go at the weekend." Yugi said, "Mum said she'd pay for me to visit any time I want…oh… I can't go on my own…"
"I'd come." Tea nodded.
"Me too." Sakura agreed.
"I'm coming." Tomoyo said, "I don't want to miss out on seeing where you come from and finding out more!"
The bell for class rang and the four looked at each other and shot off to class.
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It was still raining heavily when the four left school, passing out their phone numbers before they left, Tomoyo's body guards picking her up, and Sakura and Tea leaving Yugi with directions to the library, since Tea had extra classes again and Sakura had to go ask her father about the weekend while Toya, her older brother, was in.
Yugi was soaked again and wishing he'd brought a coat this morning by the time he reached the library.
Meditation was a weird thing to be asking about at Yugi's age, but the librarian accepted the remark that it was for a school project and helped him find the books, which were in the spiritual welfare section of the library, helping him to pick out the best books for information on, how to go about, and practical uses for meditation, since the rain had slowed the customers to an almost dead stop.
He took them out, on his new library card, and dashed home through the rain to start reading.
The house was empty again, his Mum wasn't around much anymore, with the new job, and Yugi would have traded his magic to have his Grandfather and his mother around… but somehow he just knew that he wouldn't trade his friends.
He picked up the phone, putting the books down on the table and rang his Grandfather, "Hi Grandpa… Yeah, it's me."
He was on the phone a good half an hour, ringing off with a promise that he would see his Grandpa this weekend and he might be bringing his friends, and the rain was still going. It was dark in the house, the heavy clouds blotting out the sunlight and the street lamps providing what little light was reaching the household.
He would have turned the light on, but he heard something break and grabbed his backpack, heading towards the noise. Probably not the smartest idea in the world, but he had to know if something had fallen from the stack of plates that had been on the draining board or whether someone had broken in, in which case he needed to call the police.
It turned out to be two plates and bowl, though Yugi couldn't work out how the bowl had taken a nose dive when it had been safely on the back of the work surface and was cleaning it up when his mum got home. "Yugi? You in?"
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It was insane.
The rain was still going the next morning, causing everyone to turn up for class in big, thick coats and with umbrellas and hoods up, and football pitch was flooded, making it look so much like a swimming pool that the teachers threatened to send some of the students home for their swimming kits and they'd give them swimming lessons instead.
"Ok, this isn't natural for this time of year." Tea said, as she joined her friends who were hidden in the library for lunch, "This weather has to be something to do with… Yugi, what are you doing?"
Yugi was sat in a chair with his eyes closed, breathing evenly, counting under his breath.
"That's better." Kero breathed, sounding breathless, "In, two, three, four…" He was guiding the breathing patterns, "Out, two, three, four…"
Tea looked at Sakura, who was looking confused. "Kero's helping Yugi with meditation. Is it me or is it easier to breathe in here?"
Tomoyo gave her an intriguing look as Kero left off counting, seeing as Yugi had gotten it and turned to Sakura. "It's his magic. It's stifling."
"Why?" Tea asked.
"My magic comes from the sun." Kero said, "Which I can't currently draw from until he gets his magic under control."
"Does that mean Sakura's is Sun magic too?" Tomoyo asked.
"No, it's similar but not the same, currently she's using the magic of the Clow Cards, they're Dark, which seems to interact well with Yugi's magic, but I think her own magic is something different and whatever his is, it's blocking out hers as well."
"Did you ask about Saturday?" Tea asked Sakura, who was playing with her Key, which now hung on a cord around her neck, and Tomoyo, who was sketching something.
"I have to take Toya." Sakura growled, "My big brother. But I can come."
"Mum's not happy," Tomoyo said, "But I managed to get her to agree if we take the limo and my bodyguards can drive us there."
"My parents are fine with it, 'travel is good for you and as long as a responsible adult is going it will be ok by us'." Tea sighed.
"I just hope Toya counts." Sakura laughed.
Yugi's eyes opened and he looked at them with a small grin, "So?" He asked.
"If you can put up with Toya and a limo, we can all come." Tea said.
"Toya?"
"Sakura's big brother."
"And a limo?"
"Tomoyo's bodyguards." Tea answered as Tomoyo finished one sketch, gave them an embarrassed smile and started the next one.
Yugi would have said something else, but both Sakura and Kero gasped.
"What was that?" Sakura asked.
"Clow Cards." Kero growled, "More then one."
"Sorry." Yugi said, frowning, "Any idea where?"
"Up." Kero snorted.
"The rain?" Yugi asked.
"Probably." Kero nodded.
"Can I take 'em with WINDY?" Sakura asked.
"The RAIN card would be easy to defeat if you can locate the actual card, but you may have to capture the one working with it first."
"It's actually called 'The RAIN'?" Tea asked.
"Clow Reed found it was better to name the cards after exactly what they did and define them that way then try to place complicated bonds on the card spirits. Words have a great deal of power when working magic, and defining things similarly is much better then trying to over complicate the spells you're casting and causing the spells to clash with one another."
The four nodded, interested and taking the knowledge in. Kero had taken to advising them, and giving them tips like that, in fact Tomoyo had been taking notes on all of Kero's advice.
"We should wait till after school and go somewhere like Penguin Park." Yugi said, "Where there isn't going to be many people around to see us."
"Can you hold off until around fiveish?" Tomoyo asked.
"I suppose." Sakura frowned, "But what if the cards have moved on by then?"
"They won't have, if they haven't gone already." Kero said, "It'll be safe to hold off a little longer but we can't wait too long."
"I promise, I'll be there at five."
"Penguin Park." Sakura nodded, "The main entrance?"
There were three nods. "I can't." Tea shook her head, looking frustrated, "I have to go…"
"You're not that far behind in your studies, Tea." Tomoyo frowned, "Can't you skip one?"
"I…"
"Or at least get out early."
"I suppose…"
"Come on Tea, Sakura and Yugi are going to be capturing a Clow Card! How often will you get to see them in action?"
"I should be able to get away by five fifteen at the latest." Tea nodded finally.
"We'll wait, right guys?" Yugi asked.
"That's right."
"We wouldn't do it without you."
Tea smiled, "Thanks girls." She paused, "And thanks Yugi."
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It was five thirty pm and the group were gathered in a trailer driven to the main park entrance by Tomoyo's bodyguards.
"What, exactly, are those?" Sakura asked pointing at the clothes hanging from railings on both sides of the trailer.
"Costumes." Tomoyo giggled.
"No way." Yugi backed up, noting that on the left side hung all girl's costumes and on the right hung all boy's costumes.
"Please Yugi. I have waterproof costumes and every magical duo has cool clothes."
"That and you'd like them to be wearing your designs when you film them." Tea laughed.
"Well…"
"Please Sakura?" Kero begged, "The cards will take you more seriously if you look the part."
"Oh…alright."
"You should change too, if you're going to help." Kero directed at Yugi, "It'll reflect badly on Sakura if she's dressed up for battle and her helper isn't."
"Oh…ok." Yugi examined the costume he was handed. It was made of a strange waxy material in the same deep blue as Sakura's dress, but his was jacket and trousers instead of a dress, with long white sleeves and gold trim around the edges of both pieces, his black top he'd been wearing underneath his school uniform going well with it.
"Here." Tomoyo handed him a thick gold chain, which she'd just threaded through the loop on the Millennium Puzzle.
"Thanks." Yugi said, putting it on, but Tomoyo had already turned to Sakura and was adjusting the huge deep blue bow on the waterproof blue, white and gold dress.
"Sakura, Yugi, this way!" Tomoyo giggled, pointing the camcorder at them, causing Sakura to go bright red and Yugi to turn away quickly. "I have something for you too Kero." Tomoyo was still giggling as she helped Kero with a small deep blue and gold bow, "Now where's that hat?"
She dug out a huge witch's hat, in the same deep blue and with gold trim, and handed it to Sakura, before attempting to find the counter part for Yugi.
"It's fine." Yugi said, semi-relived, when she realised that she'd left it at home, "Hats never sit well on my head, too much hair." He indicated the spikes.
"I suppose…"
"Clow Cards? Causing the rain outside?" Tea asked, very much of the opinion Tomoyo had forgotten about them in her attempts to play dress-up.
"Let's go!" Kero grinned, pushing open the door of the trailer and flying out into the rain. Sakura and Yugi were close behind and once Tomoyo had locked up, Tea and Tomoyo chased after them.
The river was swollen, easily covering the path that ran alongside it and the bridge that went over the river was a couple of inches under water.
"This is insane, where should we start?" Yugi called over the sound of the river.
"We need to capture RAIN." Sakura called back.
"It has to be you, I can't fly!" Yugi pointed out.
"Point…" She called her staff and activated the FLY card, shooting upwards, leaving Yugi stood watching.
"If I knew more about my magic, I might be a bit more helpful right now…" Yugi grumbled more to himself then anyone else.
Sakura looked downwards for a moment before she broken through the clouds, frowning in confusion as another layer of clouds sat above her in the clear white sky. "WINDY stir up the clouds and find RAIN!" She touched the card with her staff and the glowing yellowy white woman shot out of it, flying between the clouds, creating slipstream wherever she flew and created a twister that sucked up the clouds.
Sakura frowned as something started floating towards the ground, but had to focus on the card in front of her as WINDY deposited a very dizzy RAIN in front of her.
"Return to the guise you meant to be, Clow Card!"
The RAIN attempted to escape, but was sucked into her card, WINDY returning of her own volition, and Sakura started diving towards where she could see clouds forming below.
"Kero?"
"The CLOUD." He replied, "Accounts for the second layer of clouds and look…"
Yugi wasn't sorry that the rain had stopped, but he was now trying to work out exactly where that little girl whose hair had looked like a really fluffy cloud had gone.
It wasn't hard to work out from the style of her clothes that she was the Clow Card that had been working with RAIN, and he could guess that she had something to do with clouds, but what he couldn't work out was how to…
He bumped into someone, and, somehow sensing that this person wasn't human, he attempted to grab onto them, missing and heading straight for the river.
Amethyst went ruby and only a surprisingly quick reaction time stopped him from going into the raging river, where he would have been swept away. The girl had stopped creating clouds and was now watching Yugi warily, as if he might bite.
"You're a Clow Card, aren't you?" Yugi asked.
The girl looked surprised and nodded.
Yugi smirked, casting a spell that sent out of wave of energy that acted like a net, you could actually see the golden strands.
This would have been highly effective had the girl not turned into a cloud and slipped through the gaps.
However, as she reformed to run away, she ran straight into Sakura's staff and was turned back into a card.
With CLOUD's capture, the clouds in the sky faded, leaving the real, fluffy, white, clouds to float by lazily in the clear blue sky.
"Nice try Yu…" Sakura trailed off as she watched Yugi examine her, his ruby eyes wary for a moment, before they danced in amusement and became amethyst again.
"Sorry I wasn't much help." Yugi apologized.
"Yugi, are you aware your eyes turn red when you're using your magic?" Kero asked.
"No…" Yugi paused, "Should they?"
"I don't know." Kero admitted. "But your grandpa might. We'll have to ask him."
"That was great." Tomoyo was cheering, having recorded the entire thing. "I can't wait to get this to editing…"
Whatever she was about to say next was cut off by a round of sneezes from the group gathered.
"Hot chocolate." Yugi decided, "My house."
"A video?"
"I was able to film something amusing extremely amusing last night." Tomoyo pressed play.
Sakura had to fight to not show any emotion as she saw herself, flying across the sky and doubling back, laughing at something, Kero at her side. "What is that?"
Tomyo was grinning, "This is an enlargement." The video started again and Sakura saw that there was no way she was going to be able to talk herself out of it, as it was clearly her on the winged staff, a terrified yelp escaping her.
"What's wrong Sakura?" Kero exploded out of her school bag, "What's happened? Is it a Clow Card?" Kero stopped and stared at Tomoyo, who looked at the video and then at the flying bear.
"My, a striking resemblance." Tomoyo looked thrilled.
"Have you seen Yugi yet?" Sakura asked cautiously.
"He normally walks to school with Tea." Tomoyo pointed out. "Why?"
"No reason, I just wondered."
There was no chance for her to say anymore, as Raine, Sakura's cleaning duty partner arrived and Kero dove back into the bag.
Tomoyo didn't miss, as the rest of the class slipped in, that Yugi's bag looked a little heavier then usual and he tried to catch Sakura's eye. Something had happened there. She thought as a message was passed along the classroom, from Sakura, to her, then to Raine and then along until it reached Tea and finally Yugi. Who started, frowned and looked at Sakura, and then gave an almost imperceptible nod before turning back to his class work.
When lunch time rolled around, the gathered out of sight of the main football pitch, where the majority of the school's students gathered and set up their dinner things, Kero escaping the pack and explaining why he'd come to school.
Tea, of course, thought he was adorable and started hugging him, once she'd gotten over the shock of a talking teddy, of course.
"I was distracted or I would have sensed it sooner." Kero said, as Tea finally let him go so they could eat. "Sakura, meet that huge magical power I told you about last night." He pointed at Yugi.
"ME?" Yugi yelped, then looked around, checking no one was coming over, "I don't have magic."
"Another new magician!" Kero asked, "There's two in the same area? Is there no one around who can recognize magical talent anymore?" He sighed.
"So, if it's alright to tell us. Who is he?" Yugi asked, wondering for a moment, if his new 'magic' had anything to do with his Grandfather's tales of the 'power of Darkness'. "You didn't tell me last night."
"He says his name is Kerberos," Sakura said.
"He sure looks different from his name." Tomoyo said.
"He's so cute." Tea said, offering one of her sandwiches to the bear.
"I've been calling him Kero." Sakura said as Kero accepted it.
"Don't call me like I'm some frog! I'm Kerberos, the Beast of the Seal who guards the Clow Cards!" Kero protested before taking a bite and grinning, "Yum!"
"Clow Cards?" Tomoyo asked.
They ate while Sakura and Kero explained everything about the Clow Cards and Sakura becoming a Cardcaptor, and then they were onto Yugi and his magic, with Kero suggesting that they look up the last people to have any link to Yugi's magic, since it wasn't a style that Kero recognized and since Clow Reed had been the best magician in the whole world, then it had to be a really rare type of magic. It was certainly old, Kero knew that much.
Tea was thinking as Tomoyo squealed, "The Cardcaptor that protects the city from the catastrophes of the Clow Cards and the mysterious newcomer, with old, powerful magic that helps her every step of the way… that's so awesome"
"Wait what?" Tea yelped, "Yugi only helped once."
"And I've only captured one card!" Sakura protested.
"No, you can do it Sakura! You too Yugi!" Tomoyo was excited and Yugi laughed as she turned to Sakura and practically leapt on her, "If you don't mind, can you show me how you use your magic?"
"Yeah, yeah, show her!" Kero cheered, making Yugi suddenly very glad that he didn't have a… could he call Kero a mentor…? He was more like one of those morality pets the magical girls on TV got.
"Note to self." He thought, "Never share that thought with the 'Guardian of the Seal'."
"But…"
"It's all right, there's no problems. Nobody's watching!" Kero continued.
Sakura stood up and took the key out from her pocket as Yugi carefully took the Millennium Puzzle and examined it. It seemed like an ordinary gold object, but why did he have the feeling it was much, much more then that?
"The Key which hides powers of the Dark!" Sakura intoned, glancing over her shoulder to see if Tomoyo and Tea were watching, "Show your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! RELEASE!"
Tomoyo watched as the circle lit up below her, the wind forming of it's own accord and blowing their hair around as key became staff in a burst of white light.
"You're able to use magic with this staff?" Tomoyo was asking as Tea watched Yugi's eyes flicker towards Sakura, ruby red for a moment, before amethyst was dancing with amusement at Tomoyo's reaction.
Tomoyo's excitable squeeing was cut short by the sudden formation of clouds and they were drenched by a sudden downpour before they could pack all of their lunch stuff away.
They dove inside, completely drenched and an ill amused Tea wrung out her blanket. "That was sudden." She growled as Yugi quickly put the Puzzle away and Sakura's staff shrank back down into the key and she put it in her pocket again. "It's not supposed to rain today."
"Do you think it's a Clow Card?" Tomoyo asked.
"Dunno." Kero shrugged, "It's a possibility, but I didn't sense one. Not that I can sense much over the amount of power you're wasting, kid." He directed at Yugi.
"Sorry, I don't know how…"
"To control it, I know. But try mediation or something. Your magic is distracting."
"Sorry." Yugi said, before Sakura had to grab Kero and stuff him unceremoniously into her bag when some of the upper years passed them. "Meditation?" He asked the group in general.
"It's when you clear your mind of thoughts." Tea said knowledgeably, "I'm not sure how it works, but there might be a book on it in the library."
"I don't think you're distracting, Yugi." Tomoyo said, "So perhaps it's only distracting to people who are sensitive to magic."
"Still, if it's problem and stopping Kero sense the Clow Cards, I should do something about it. I just wish I knew someone with…" Yugi trailed off, "I should talk to Grandpa."
"Will he believe you?"
"He believed all the other myths surrounding the Millennium Puzzle, why wouldn't he believe this?"
"Point." Tea acknowledged, "But you can't skip school."
"I'll go at the weekend." Yugi said, "Mum said she'd pay for me to visit any time I want…oh… I can't go on my own…"
"I'd come." Tea nodded.
"Me too." Sakura agreed.
"I'm coming." Tomoyo said, "I don't want to miss out on seeing where you come from and finding out more!"
The bell for class rang and the four looked at each other and shot off to class.
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It was still raining heavily when the four left school, passing out their phone numbers before they left, Tomoyo's body guards picking her up, and Sakura and Tea leaving Yugi with directions to the library, since Tea had extra classes again and Sakura had to go ask her father about the weekend while Toya, her older brother, was in.
Yugi was soaked again and wishing he'd brought a coat this morning by the time he reached the library.
Meditation was a weird thing to be asking about at Yugi's age, but the librarian accepted the remark that it was for a school project and helped him find the books, which were in the spiritual welfare section of the library, helping him to pick out the best books for information on, how to go about, and practical uses for meditation, since the rain had slowed the customers to an almost dead stop.
He took them out, on his new library card, and dashed home through the rain to start reading.
The house was empty again, his Mum wasn't around much anymore, with the new job, and Yugi would have traded his magic to have his Grandfather and his mother around… but somehow he just knew that he wouldn't trade his friends.
He picked up the phone, putting the books down on the table and rang his Grandfather, "Hi Grandpa… Yeah, it's me."
He was on the phone a good half an hour, ringing off with a promise that he would see his Grandpa this weekend and he might be bringing his friends, and the rain was still going. It was dark in the house, the heavy clouds blotting out the sunlight and the street lamps providing what little light was reaching the household.
He would have turned the light on, but he heard something break and grabbed his backpack, heading towards the noise. Probably not the smartest idea in the world, but he had to know if something had fallen from the stack of plates that had been on the draining board or whether someone had broken in, in which case he needed to call the police.
It turned out to be two plates and bowl, though Yugi couldn't work out how the bowl had taken a nose dive when it had been safely on the back of the work surface and was cleaning it up when his mum got home. "Yugi? You in?"
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It was insane.
The rain was still going the next morning, causing everyone to turn up for class in big, thick coats and with umbrellas and hoods up, and football pitch was flooded, making it look so much like a swimming pool that the teachers threatened to send some of the students home for their swimming kits and they'd give them swimming lessons instead.
"Ok, this isn't natural for this time of year." Tea said, as she joined her friends who were hidden in the library for lunch, "This weather has to be something to do with… Yugi, what are you doing?"
Yugi was sat in a chair with his eyes closed, breathing evenly, counting under his breath.
"That's better." Kero breathed, sounding breathless, "In, two, three, four…" He was guiding the breathing patterns, "Out, two, three, four…"
Tea looked at Sakura, who was looking confused. "Kero's helping Yugi with meditation. Is it me or is it easier to breathe in here?"
Tomoyo gave her an intriguing look as Kero left off counting, seeing as Yugi had gotten it and turned to Sakura. "It's his magic. It's stifling."
"Why?" Tea asked.
"My magic comes from the sun." Kero said, "Which I can't currently draw from until he gets his magic under control."
"Does that mean Sakura's is Sun magic too?" Tomoyo asked.
"No, it's similar but not the same, currently she's using the magic of the Clow Cards, they're Dark, which seems to interact well with Yugi's magic, but I think her own magic is something different and whatever his is, it's blocking out hers as well."
"Did you ask about Saturday?" Tea asked Sakura, who was playing with her Key, which now hung on a cord around her neck, and Tomoyo, who was sketching something.
"I have to take Toya." Sakura growled, "My big brother. But I can come."
"Mum's not happy," Tomoyo said, "But I managed to get her to agree if we take the limo and my bodyguards can drive us there."
"My parents are fine with it, 'travel is good for you and as long as a responsible adult is going it will be ok by us'." Tea sighed.
"I just hope Toya counts." Sakura laughed.
Yugi's eyes opened and he looked at them with a small grin, "So?" He asked.
"If you can put up with Toya and a limo, we can all come." Tea said.
"Toya?"
"Sakura's big brother."
"And a limo?"
"Tomoyo's bodyguards." Tea answered as Tomoyo finished one sketch, gave them an embarrassed smile and started the next one.
Yugi would have said something else, but both Sakura and Kero gasped.
"What was that?" Sakura asked.
"Clow Cards." Kero growled, "More then one."
"Sorry." Yugi said, frowning, "Any idea where?"
"Up." Kero snorted.
"The rain?" Yugi asked.
"Probably." Kero nodded.
"Can I take 'em with WINDY?" Sakura asked.
"The RAIN card would be easy to defeat if you can locate the actual card, but you may have to capture the one working with it first."
"It's actually called 'The RAIN'?" Tea asked.
"Clow Reed found it was better to name the cards after exactly what they did and define them that way then try to place complicated bonds on the card spirits. Words have a great deal of power when working magic, and defining things similarly is much better then trying to over complicate the spells you're casting and causing the spells to clash with one another."
The four nodded, interested and taking the knowledge in. Kero had taken to advising them, and giving them tips like that, in fact Tomoyo had been taking notes on all of Kero's advice.
"We should wait till after school and go somewhere like Penguin Park." Yugi said, "Where there isn't going to be many people around to see us."
"Can you hold off until around fiveish?" Tomoyo asked.
"I suppose." Sakura frowned, "But what if the cards have moved on by then?"
"They won't have, if they haven't gone already." Kero said, "It'll be safe to hold off a little longer but we can't wait too long."
"I promise, I'll be there at five."
"Penguin Park." Sakura nodded, "The main entrance?"
There were three nods. "I can't." Tea shook her head, looking frustrated, "I have to go…"
"You're not that far behind in your studies, Tea." Tomoyo frowned, "Can't you skip one?"
"I…"
"Or at least get out early."
"I suppose…"
"Come on Tea, Sakura and Yugi are going to be capturing a Clow Card! How often will you get to see them in action?"
"I should be able to get away by five fifteen at the latest." Tea nodded finally.
"We'll wait, right guys?" Yugi asked.
"That's right."
"We wouldn't do it without you."
Tea smiled, "Thanks girls." She paused, "And thanks Yugi."
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It was five thirty pm and the group were gathered in a trailer driven to the main park entrance by Tomoyo's bodyguards.
"What, exactly, are those?" Sakura asked pointing at the clothes hanging from railings on both sides of the trailer.
"Costumes." Tomoyo giggled.
"No way." Yugi backed up, noting that on the left side hung all girl's costumes and on the right hung all boy's costumes.
"Please Yugi. I have waterproof costumes and every magical duo has cool clothes."
"That and you'd like them to be wearing your designs when you film them." Tea laughed.
"Well…"
"Please Sakura?" Kero begged, "The cards will take you more seriously if you look the part."
"Oh…alright."
"You should change too, if you're going to help." Kero directed at Yugi, "It'll reflect badly on Sakura if she's dressed up for battle and her helper isn't."
"Oh…ok." Yugi examined the costume he was handed. It was made of a strange waxy material in the same deep blue as Sakura's dress, but his was jacket and trousers instead of a dress, with long white sleeves and gold trim around the edges of both pieces, his black top he'd been wearing underneath his school uniform going well with it.
"Here." Tomoyo handed him a thick gold chain, which she'd just threaded through the loop on the Millennium Puzzle.
"Thanks." Yugi said, putting it on, but Tomoyo had already turned to Sakura and was adjusting the huge deep blue bow on the waterproof blue, white and gold dress.
"Sakura, Yugi, this way!" Tomoyo giggled, pointing the camcorder at them, causing Sakura to go bright red and Yugi to turn away quickly. "I have something for you too Kero." Tomoyo was still giggling as she helped Kero with a small deep blue and gold bow, "Now where's that hat?"
She dug out a huge witch's hat, in the same deep blue and with gold trim, and handed it to Sakura, before attempting to find the counter part for Yugi.
"It's fine." Yugi said, semi-relived, when she realised that she'd left it at home, "Hats never sit well on my head, too much hair." He indicated the spikes.
"I suppose…"
"Clow Cards? Causing the rain outside?" Tea asked, very much of the opinion Tomoyo had forgotten about them in her attempts to play dress-up.
"Let's go!" Kero grinned, pushing open the door of the trailer and flying out into the rain. Sakura and Yugi were close behind and once Tomoyo had locked up, Tea and Tomoyo chased after them.
The river was swollen, easily covering the path that ran alongside it and the bridge that went over the river was a couple of inches under water.
"This is insane, where should we start?" Yugi called over the sound of the river.
"We need to capture RAIN." Sakura called back.
"It has to be you, I can't fly!" Yugi pointed out.
"Point…" She called her staff and activated the FLY card, shooting upwards, leaving Yugi stood watching.
"If I knew more about my magic, I might be a bit more helpful right now…" Yugi grumbled more to himself then anyone else.
Sakura looked downwards for a moment before she broken through the clouds, frowning in confusion as another layer of clouds sat above her in the clear white sky. "WINDY stir up the clouds and find RAIN!" She touched the card with her staff and the glowing yellowy white woman shot out of it, flying between the clouds, creating slipstream wherever she flew and created a twister that sucked up the clouds.
Sakura frowned as something started floating towards the ground, but had to focus on the card in front of her as WINDY deposited a very dizzy RAIN in front of her.
"Return to the guise you meant to be, Clow Card!"
The RAIN attempted to escape, but was sucked into her card, WINDY returning of her own volition, and Sakura started diving towards where she could see clouds forming below.
"Kero?"
"The CLOUD." He replied, "Accounts for the second layer of clouds and look…"
Yugi wasn't sorry that the rain had stopped, but he was now trying to work out exactly where that little girl whose hair had looked like a really fluffy cloud had gone.
It wasn't hard to work out from the style of her clothes that she was the Clow Card that had been working with RAIN, and he could guess that she had something to do with clouds, but what he couldn't work out was how to…
He bumped into someone, and, somehow sensing that this person wasn't human, he attempted to grab onto them, missing and heading straight for the river.
Amethyst went ruby and only a surprisingly quick reaction time stopped him from going into the raging river, where he would have been swept away. The girl had stopped creating clouds and was now watching Yugi warily, as if he might bite.
"You're a Clow Card, aren't you?" Yugi asked.
The girl looked surprised and nodded.
Yugi smirked, casting a spell that sent out of wave of energy that acted like a net, you could actually see the golden strands.
This would have been highly effective had the girl not turned into a cloud and slipped through the gaps.
However, as she reformed to run away, she ran straight into Sakura's staff and was turned back into a card.
With CLOUD's capture, the clouds in the sky faded, leaving the real, fluffy, white, clouds to float by lazily in the clear blue sky.
"Nice try Yu…" Sakura trailed off as she watched Yugi examine her, his ruby eyes wary for a moment, before they danced in amusement and became amethyst again.
"Sorry I wasn't much help." Yugi apologized.
"Yugi, are you aware your eyes turn red when you're using your magic?" Kero asked.
"No…" Yugi paused, "Should they?"
"I don't know." Kero admitted. "But your grandpa might. We'll have to ask him."
"That was great." Tomoyo was cheering, having recorded the entire thing. "I can't wait to get this to editing…"
Whatever she was about to say next was cut off by a round of sneezes from the group gathered.
"Hot chocolate." Yugi decided, "My house."