The council of Clow A Cardcaptor Sakura fanfic This is an unofficial fanfic and therefore is not endorsed or supported by CLAMP (Cardcaptor Sakura\ Cardcaptors). This fanfic is designed to introduce you to an element, which will be used in my fanfics. Welcome to the council Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK In a secret room accessible only from the library, lies a secret council forged from the knowledge of Japanese sorcerer Clow Reed. Its purposes include the choosing, testing and training of a candidate that will inherit the Clow cards. Beyond that however, the council is secretly rallying forces to fight the darkness and further on, to allow arcane humans to walk alongside and use their powers alongside normal humans without fear. The lock itself is special, sure it's the old book pull trick but only magically inclined humans and those who are deemed suitable to enter can reveal the passageway. Inside the council looks similar to the library with a few exceptions. On the floor lies the magic circle of Clow Reed; a large round wooden table is in the centre, nested by a set of chairs. There are many bookcases containing books on arcane and mythology. A computer was also on a table on its own, for access to the outside world. Right now two people were sitting on opposite ends, one the one side lies a young boy with short black hair and dark eyes concealed by his glasses. He wears a dark blue robe, stylised in the same way as his ancestors. He is the direct descendent of Clow Reed, Eli Moon. On the other side is a young woman with long red hair tied in a ponytail. She has small yellow eyes and wears a white kimono. She is Layla Mackenzie, a friend of Eli's. Eli: Preliminary council meeting number 4 commencing... we will start firstly that although the council has not been reformed we have achieved the first goal of the council. The trails have passed and the candidate can now be official known as Cardcaptor. Layla: Eli, should you start referring Sakura by her name rather than just "Cardcaptor" or candidate. This always referred the last three meetings, but I think you are referring Sakura as just some tool. Eli: Indeed... I already had chosen the candidate regardless of Kero's choice. The question is why... why it was more suitable for her to inherit the cards than someone like Li. Layla: Or Minko. Eli: Layla, I wish you didn't bring that up. Layla: You will have to tell it to her and her friends. Otherwise she won't trust you... and not even one magic spell will change that. Eli: But she trusted me before Layla: Until you revealed your purpose... now she is uncertain if you are a friend or a foe. Eli: If that is the case why did she trust you? Layla: I am not quite sure... but she was very open in the letters she sent during the advanced training. Even though I didn't tell her my true purpose until the final judgement, she didn't see me as a threat. Maybe moral support and a warm approach were required. Eli: Hmm... you could be right. Let gets some of the reports and try and prove your theory. Past work Half an hour later, the council had finished gathering all the reports on Sakura and Li and placed them on the centre of the table. Eli took the first report on the top. It read: "Preliminary entry-Basic training All the paperwork has been filled in and i am set. I believe Sakura has sealed half of the cards away. The only worry at the moment is getting exposed right at the very beginning. Managed to save someone whom I suspect is Sakura from falling over while a cat got in her way. She didn't know who I am so I kept it that way. I can tell this person is the cardcaptor from my arcane senses. The mana system is exactly the same as Clow Reed's mixed with something else. Unknown at this time and I might not know at all but at the moment is irreverent." Eli: This is interesting considering that you are not part of the dynasty, Layla. Maybe magic is a mould, which can be easily shaped and inherited for generations to come. Sakura and Li will be passing on this knowledge, but the question is will the council accept them like the forerunners? Layla: The council will accept them; the offspring might be forewarned about the tests beyond them. Eli: Hmm... maybe so... but remember we are dealing with powers beyond the typical conjuring. We are talking about living spirits sealed away in cards. Will the cards accept them like they accepted the forerunners? Layla: Of course they will... this is an extraordinary opportunity for some. The chance to do something beyond the normal male or female. Eli: Yes but remember... they can grow up with dangerous characteristics that can sway their alignment. You know how dangerous it was for me to eliminate a threat while the initial cards were being sealed. Flashback Seoul, South Korea Quarter way through season one Heavy rain poured upon Eli, wearing his blue robe. The road ahead of him was like a war zone with the building beside the road shattered. The streets were deserted, with no sign of life anywhere. Eli slowly walked along the road, staff in hand. He was not afraid yet was not going to let his guard down. It was too quiet for him. Eli (Shouts): Show yourself Minko! The ground suddenly trembled as if on cue. Eli turns around to find a large natural pillar forming with a young woman perched on top. The woman had medium brown hair and dark eyes. Her skin was pale and colourless. She wears a black battle garb and holds a black staff with two red stars at each end. Eli: Minko Kao, your reign of terror is over! Minko: What reign? I haven't even started to show my true powers. All I have done was flatten this small segment of Seoul, to send a message to the county that I am their new ruler. Eli: Because of you, you have endangered people, destroyed people and broke the dynasty's code. I should never have chosen you to take my place. Minko: Why, afraid you will not wake up. You are losing your powers to your puny candidate, you never was as strong as you are past life. Once I have dealt with you, i will take what is mine, your powers and the clow cards. Eli: Leave Sakura out of this, she knows nothing about you or me. Minko raises her staff and as the stars on the staff glowed... Minko: Remind me to tell her then. She lets out a blot of dark energy at Eli. He casts a defence shield to deflect the attack. Eli: Even if I shouldn't have disobeyed the council by searching for a second candidate. I will leave here with the mistake... defeated. Minko: Fool... you can't defeat me. She jumps down from the pillar and they both engaged in melee combat. Both of them managed to parry and evade each other's blow. Minko: You are too weak to defeat me... just like your candidate. Eli was getting tired... he did not have the strength as he used to have and now he was endangering his health. Eli: Maybe... I don't... have... the strength... to defeat you.... now Raising his staff Eli: But I can seal you away! His magic circle appeared and yellow beams shot out of his staff. The beams go round Minko's arms and legs then sprout out to form a cube like structure around her. Minko gasped in pain as she was tied and encased into this arcane cell. The "cell" arcane powers drained and jammed Minko's powers making her unable to use her magic. Then mist forms from the bottom of the "cell" freezing her body into place. As it was about to freeze her head into place she boosts. Minko: You know this cell won't hold me Eli. I will break out of this cell and i will take what is rightfully mine! With that she was frozen into limbo. Eli then used his magic to send it plummeting into the ground. He eliminated the threat, but at a great cost to his health. He limps his way to the alleyways, hiding from the police that was arriving. Saying before he passed out. Eli: How could have I been... so foolish. Past work 2 Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK Present day Eli: It is ironic that Sakura did a similar thing when she converted 6 clow cards at once. If only she knew how foolish I was. Layla: Who said you were foolish? Eli: No-one, but when I came back here, the guilt settled in. I knew how much I endangered Sakura with my foolish action and every day I keep regretting it. This is why I called for discipline within the candidate. To prevent the problem happing again. Layla: But Minko is different to Sakura. Minko was not part of the dynasty, while there is a small trace of the Clow dynasty within Sakura. Eli: You are not part of the dynasty yet I took you on board. Layla: Perhaps, but Sakura has a heart and looked after her team and the clow cards with great interest. Minko was only in it for its powers. Eli: The heart... it is something I still don't understand. It's like, that my "game" with her was a life or death situation. That I was endangering her life, but I had to... it was my duty to test her. Layla: And why did you test her? Eli: The resolution I passed demanded it. You know the resolution; you and I knew what had to be done. Immediately he pulls out a sheet of paper. On it was a parchment containing the resolution: In order for the next candidate to follow the legacy of our dynasty, and to prevent the fateful incident in South Korea. The following steps must take place as soon as the candidate is chosen: · One member should "accompany" the candidate half way through the sealing process, cryptically helping her towards the final judgement and offering a second chance if called for. · Following the sealing of all cards and final judgement the candidate will have completed the basic training. Advanced training will then follow. · Advance training will rely on Eli to secretly test the candidate in a number of scenarios. The primary aim is for the candidates to switch from the loaned mana source Clow Reed left to his\her own mana source. This might be difficult at first, since the candidate's body will not be able to cope at first but please give perseverance. · Eli will have the ability to abort all but the final test (which is a all or nothing test). · Upon completion of the advanced training, the candidate is official considered the cardcaptor. Eli: Now you see why Sakura needed to be strong in sprit and mind. I may have already planned on selecting her as the candidate, firstly by creating her staff to suit her, then by Kero to train her and Yue to test her. Knowing full well that Sakura would never hurt Yue, I had to entrust someone to carry and use the moon bell to ensure that she prevailed. That was your job, but mine was to fully test her when the time was right. That is why I ensured I never aged. Layla: But if you pushed her to the point of killing her... Eli: Yue would have already put her into limbo if she failed... that is why I was not afraid when testing her. Besides, she needs to know that the duty of any fighter of the light... will be in situations where he\she may perish either due to failure of the task in hand... or in sacrifice to others. Layla: This is why you set yourself as an opposite. Eli: Indeed... to her, it was life or death, fighting an unknown enemy with hostile intent. To me... it like a game of chess, only I was handicapped... even in places where I thought I was strong. Layla: But what was the "pieces" as you called them? Eli: The white pieces would be the candidate and her friends, who will fight the unknown forces, which I play. They are Sakura, Li, Madison, Meiling, Kero and Yue. Layla: But Meiling was only in Japan for 3 days when you were there. Eli: True, but if Sakura failed the final test it would have been checkmate, and I would have won, Meiling would not have survived regardless of where she was. Eli: If I can continue... The black pieces would be the enemy, me and my newest creations Spinner and Ruby. These would be opposites of Kero and Yue to show a "dark" version of them. My role would be to play the role of the "villain" and test Sakura under numerous scenarios. Scenarios that would involve petty situations, scenarios that would involve rescues, scenarios that would involve facing someone with a warped sense of humour... Layla: Which you seem to like. Eli: Yes my humour did cause a few problems but it was beside the point. Where was I... oh yes... scenarios that would involve hidden enemies, scenarios that would mean sacrificing to defend others, even scenarios where apocalyptic situations arise, And all to fit three purposes. Eli: One, to transform the cards into the cardcaptor's own image. Two, to switch the power source of those cards into cardcaptor's own. And lastly, to test the cardcaptor in every situation imaginable. Layla: And you have succeeded in doing so. Eli: But at what cost, Layla? At what cost? Present and future work Eli has just drunk his cup of tea, a part of him was happy that the work he forged for about 4-5 generations is now in good hands. On the other hand, he has served the link between him and the new generation of the Clow dynasty. Not only that, he fears for the day when Minko will return, not because of what will happen, but the fact that Sakura is not ready and that does not know about it. Two wrongs don't make a right and this is what pondering his mind. Layla: Something wrong? Eli: What am I Layla, a man born for duty or a man who listens to the heart? Layla: What do you mean? Eli: I knew how dangerous the cards are in the wrong hands, but testing Sakura was like... hurting her. I still can't forget the need to erase my presence once when it was getting so close to the final test. But... I knew it was coming, I wrote a letter to you a few days after the event... is that duty or something else? Layla: It is called destiny, while some can control it others cannot because it has already been laid out for them. You knew what would happen. I knew what would happen, and so did Sakura and Li. Sometimes we are forewarned and other times we have to hope and pray. Eli: But what if Minko breaks free and pursue Sakura because she doesn't expect a thing. It won't be a test, it will be reality. And lets not forget the fact that other problems are happing across the world. As a member of the Freedom Encathre, we need to curb the amount of corruption, extremism and darkness across the globe. And the council hasn't been fully set up yet. Layla: The Encathre has given us perseverance, the other two allies, WHOOP and FREEOPS will back us up while we form the initial council, that will mean introducing Sakura and Kero to the council and giving Kero his spot as a Primary candidate member alongside us. When this happens, you will no longer need to worry about the secrecy you had to hide. Eli: Your right, i should continue to preserve until it is time to be fully involved in FREEOPS activities. And its network of operatives... one moment... Eli stands up and picks up a folder from a nearby drawer and sits back down with it, he opens it and unfolds an A5 map of the world with red dots on numerous countries. Eli: You see, we are all in this together... and the fight for a equal world will rely on all kinds of people such as... Pointing to northern Japan... Eli: The ninjas of the Mugen Tenshin clan... Pointing to Germany... Eli: A Eurasian street fighter... Pointing to China... Eli: Two other fighters from Beijing to add to our own from Hong Kong. Pointing to the UK... Eli: The Generoa gypsy clan... and two vigilantes... Layla: You said you are going to introduce one of them to the council. Eli: Yes, he and his dreamer spirit has given renewed hope for the country... the case now involves putting this hope into action. Layla: You are forgetting the fact that he is also now a better person. I felt the destiny change from in trouble to a possible hero; we can explain everything because he has a large interest in the arcane works. Eli: Yes, he is a mixture of you and Sakura... only no one cared so the spirit world sent a spirit to prevent him from self-harm. I will discuss this when we invite him. Lets continue... He then points to the USA. Eli: The USA not only has our main allies but also a private investigator, though i don't I can ask for her help due to the fact that although she fights for good, she is slightly greedy with cash, maybe it is part of the job. He gets up and closes the map. He then puts it away. Eli: The point is we need to work alongside these allies to put an end to Minko and other dark forces. I only hope we can assemble them in time. Future work Eli: Of course, my proposals will require a structure to form under. The bureaucrats of the current forms have no idea how unique magic is. All they think about is how to turn it into a weapon. Weapons, they have killed and they have protected. Why, do they research ways to kill when they can research on ways to help? Layla: Indeed, who really supports such research? Eli: When I, in my former life of course, created the clow cards, my designs were based across the board for use in times of peace and war, from the creation of beautiful gardens to harnessing the powers of the elements. When I returned to the world I saw my former country united... yet the new country I now live in is under threat from losing what it means by bureaucrats. Layla: Like? Eli: Flair, soul, spirit and sovereignty. The UK is losing what it means to be British; very soon it will be what it means to be European rather than what it means to be British. Similar things are happening in other countries. And when a country loses its spirit it becomes a grey pool of slavery and fear. Layla: But they can't win; the Tao says that when a country is in chaos, patriotism is born. Eli: Yes, they can't win, yet how long will it be for the British people to realise there is another way to end this... this madness? Layla: Maybe you should leave that to someone who knows how. Eli: Indeed, I should focus on the foundation of my work first before we start going into outside matters. Layla: Like forming the council. Eli: The council... a council with a member from each continent who is either magically gifted or has a relation to it. Which will help coordinate the proper integration of arcane civilians into society. And we will be the heads of such a unique endeavour. Layla: Don't forget Kero Eli: No I won't, he will be included as soon as possible. As for Sakura and Li, I will instate them into the council as operatives alongside the ones here. Then our end of the Encathre will be complete. Layla: One more question, when we do form the council in full. Will we need to move from here? Eli: I'm afraid so, for the fact to avoid suspicion. We will assemble slowly so we can prepare for the future, right now our first task is to make contact with our "common friends", then we will decide where to move next. For we may have ended our last chess game, but the next game has just started, the real game.