the dream, the outfall, the seal
A burgundy leathered book cover, strung in its binding by gold, forming into an unrecognizable crest, like a seal, thatâs guarded by a lion-looking creature peering behind it. You could almost make out the words on the cover untilâŠ
Pulled out by a single inhale of her breath, Sakura woke up to find the morning sun shine on her face. Weird. She thought, only able to remember half of what she had actually dreamed, even though she was seconds away from its previous existence.Â
No time to think about it though. With one glance at the time, Sakuraâs eyes widened as she practically leaped out of her bed, in fear of being late to keep up with Touya and Yukito.Â
After the conclusion of another tiring, yet enjoyable cheerleading practice, Sakura made it home. It was Tuesday, and Tuesday in the Kinomoto home meant it was Sakuraâs turn to cook for the family.Â
As she stepped through the door, Sakura was immediately startled by a ruffled noise coming from her dadâs office. She called out, âDad? Touya?â Yet, it felt like minutes had passed by and still no response in return. Sakura could sense the sinking feeling in her stomach - growing alarm that something was possibly hiding in the study. Quietly, Sakura tip toed into the kitchen, only to find a note had been stuck onto the fridge. It read, âIâm sorry Iâll be home late. Love, Dadâ Touyaâs longest work days were Tuesday and Wednesdays, which confirmed that Sakura was truly home alone.
Sakura rarely ever went to her fatherâs study. She never wanted to intrude and rummage through his things, even if it was just her standing in the space. With both Touya and her father out, there was no way anyone could be down there, but she couldâve sworn she had heard something. Could it have been a ghost? Sakura winced at the thought - her heart pounding faster as an expression of fear swept over her soft face. She did not want to find out, but someone had to go down and check⊠After all, the cookbook with the exact recipe she needed to prep for dinner was down there. She didnât even dare imagine what Touya would say if he were to find out she had made a mistake with his dish.
Before she knew it, Sakura was going down the stairs into her dadâs office. At first glance, after turning the lights on, there was no sign anyone had been there since the morning. Odd -Â but she thought, since she was here, sheâd might as well leave it nice and organized for him.
Sakura dusted bookshelves, cleaned up his desk, and shelved books that lied in an old laundry basket waiting to be reorganized. While putting two of the basket books away, Sakura noticed a tiny beaming light in the corner of her eye. As she turned to step closer towards it, Sakuraâs eyes began to squint in the glow coming from a book docked on a shelf across the way. For a couple moments, the glow grew brighter with each close step - and then suddenly, the light died out, just as sheâd reach the bookshelf.Â
By this point, the fear she had harbored earlier had been all but forgotten about, as Sakuraâs curiosity overcame her and reached the shelf to pick out the book. Holding the book in the palm of her hand, Sakura began to recognize the crest and creature on the book cover, until the crack of the unlock scared her into loosing focus. She allowed her instinct to lead her into opening the cover, revealing a deck of cards where there would normally be pages to a book.
To analyze the design of the cards, Sakura softly picked from top of the stack. These cards held similar design concept to the book coverâs burgundy and gold astrological detailing. The only difference she noticed they held was discovered as she flipped the card in her hand to gaze its other side, showing the drawing of a woman with wings, eyes closed and hands crossed. The designâs resemblance almost felt familiar to what the Europeans claimed as tarot cards. Were they possibly used for a game of sorts? Why would these by hanging out in her fatherâs study?
Sakura read the title sitting at the bottom of the card out loud, ââŠWindy?â
Suddenly, gusts of winds began to shoot out of thin air, blowing against her face at what felt a thousand miles per hour. She shut her eyes, as she tried to shield herself from what felt like a vicious indoor tornado, still holding tightly to the card sheâd just read from. She couldnât see, but Sakura could sense the rest of the cards start to fly out from the book, just as easily as she could feel her skirt blowing through the aggressive gales. It wasnât until the wind had died down and disappeared that Sakura realized how off balance she was, leading her to fall back onto the study floor.
Her backwards trip caused the book to fall, laying closed onto the ground right beside her. The bookâs familiar glow returned into half its strength, slowly revealing a creature, which oddly looked like a golden plush bear with wings and a wispy tail. As the creature fully formed outside of the book cover, their small, thin eyes softly opened up, wings fluttering a hundred miles per minute, as they energetically said, âHello there!â A floating teddy bear that could talk made Sakura reactively squeal with confusion, making the bear respond with an off-put âWhoa!â
The golden plush floated a few inches away from where Sakura sat on the ground, proclaiming âIâm Cerberus, Guardian Beast of this Book.â Sakura, still trying to grasp what was going on, responded with a shaky âY-You⊠were the seal to this book?â She thought her eyes could be deceiving her when she saw it scrunch its mouth to one side and shrug its little shoulders. âYeah, kinda.âÂ
They turned and flew around a bit, looking to get a better idea of where they were, until their eyes were back at Sakura trying to analyze her and who she mightâve been. For looking like a golden plush teddy bear with wings, and sounding cheerful just a minute ago, he could sport a pretty serious look. âAnd whatâs your name?â She fixed her posture up a bit, tilting for a little bow. She wasnât going to be rude now. âMy name is Kinomoto. Sakura.â
Cerberus, as they were called, floated closer to where the book laid closed on the ground. âWell Sakura, itâs my job to protect the Clow cards from getting into trouble. Those are all the cards inside this book, and the one you have in your hand.â Once theyâd landed, Cerberus easily jolted the book open with their little paw. They peered inside, even though they seemed unsurprised when the book was empty. âWell, the cards that were inside this book.â
âWhat are Clow cards?â Sakura replied with a tone of hesitation. This question prompted Cerberus to go on a long explanation, one that was frankly hard for Sakura to keep up with, as all of this still seemed like one big weird hallucination. The bits of information she did pick up, Sakura learned that the Clow Cards were created by an old wizard named Clow Reed. The cards are incredibly powerful, each holding their own character, yet they are just as dangerous and can take over the world on their own if desired. Thatâs why the cards would need a cardcaptor, or someone to catch and keep all the cards. Sakura also took a moment to explain her encounter with the Windy card and what happened to the rest of the cards, trying her best to paint a good picture for Cerberus with the information she had.
Eventually, as their long catch-up of exposition started to wind down, Cerberus stated with a balance of enthusiasm and urgency. âIf you opened the book, Sakura, that means you possess the magical powers.â Sakura said the words out loud, âMagical powers?â Even then, she couldnât imagine this conversation to get any more unbelievable, but Cerberus insisted, âYes.â They then stood on top of the closed book. âStand up!â Sakura listened to their command.
A ball of light formed from the book, beginning to become the outline of some sort of charm. Cerberus chanted a spell of a sacred promise, as the same picture of the bookâs seal began to reveal itself on the ground below them. Then Cerberus suddenly called out to it âRelease the power!â which made the charm instantaneously form into a large wand. âSakura, take the wand!â
Sakura stared at the floating item in front of her. Her hand slowly reaching out to take it as ordered, yet stopping in midst of the fear she still inhibited. However, something warm inside her began to spread throughout her nerves, a familiar sensation that almost felt like whispers in her ear telling her this was something she had to do. And as her instinct guided her, Sakura reached to grab the wand and felt the electric feeling of the wandâs magic pulsate back through her bloodstream. The blinding glow burst back in full strength and force, completely encompassing her in its rays. Cerberusâs next words forever now ringing in her ear, âItâs up to you now to be The Cardcaptor.â
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